AdventLC

Safety Rules

// June 18th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

Jake had work as a lineman for the local utility company for fifteen years without suffering a serious accident or injury. Jake’s safety record did not just happen and could be largely attributed to the fact that he was always careful to follow proper safety procedures.

Now if Jake wanted to continue in that line of work without serious mishaps due to his own carelessness he would have to continue to follow proper safety procedures.

But if Jake decided that fifteen years of following the safety procedures were enough to protect him in the future, and that he could make occasional exceptions to the rules, he could suffer serious consequences.

God has given humankind rules to guide us, not only through this life, but that will also prepare us for eternal life. These rules or instructions are found in His Word.

Yes, it’s true that following God through life does not mean we will always be walking an easy path. But it’s also true that we cannot achieve spiritual success by having confidence in, and relying, on our own abilities.

But if we follow instructions, if we rely on God for help and wisdom, and if we don’t try to cut corners, we will be richly rewarded.

If we are faithful we will be able to say, as did Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (KJV)

God’s Ways

// June 18th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

Although some of the men Jesus had called to follow Him had been with Him as He taught the people and preformed miracles they had not yet given up their fishing business.

In Luke 5:1-11 we find that early one morning Jesus found these men washing their nets after fishing all night without catching any fish. And He used Peter’s boat from which to teach the great multitude that had followed Him down to the shore of Galilee.

After He had finished teaching the people Jesus told Peter to take the boat out into the deep water and let down his net.

Now Peter was an experienced fisherman and he knew that it was nearly impossible to catch fish with a net in the clear waters of the lake during the day.

Peter even reminded Jesus that they had spent the entire night fishing and had not caught even one fish. But then Peter went on to say he would let down his net because that’s what Jesus told him to do.

This time when they let down the net they caught so many fish that it broke the net.

Often as we ask God to guide us He will take us down a different path than we wanted to go. We will have trials and tribulations. We may even say, “God, this is not what I had in mind. I hope You know what You are doing.”

But if we could see the end from the beginning as God does we would see that God is always looking out for our best interest.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 (KJV)

Spiritual Middle Ground

// June 13th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

“Hey Bert, I see you have the day off,” Dave said when he met Bert coming out of the post office. “How did you manage that? The last I heard you were working a lot of overtime.”

“Things are still pretty busy at the plant, but I quit yesterday.”

“Man, you had a fantastic job. Why did you ever do something like that?”

“I guess you will just have to call me headstrong, but I got tired of the boss always wanting things done his way.”

“I hope things work out for you,” Dave said as walked away. And as he shook his head he said to himself, “I sure hope he knows what he’s doing.”

While there are areas in our life where we can choose to do as we please, if we want to get along in life we are going to have to go along with rules and regulations.

One thing God gives everyone is the freedom to choose whether or not we want to follow Him.

But even in this matter we are going to submit our lives or our wills to someone, either God or the devil. There is no middle ground.

Some may say, “I am not going to choose either side. I want to do good, but I want also to do things my own way. But as the saying goes, “The devil owns the fence.”

We may waver for a short time or for years, but eventually we are going to have to make a choice.

As Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthian believers, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.” 1 Corinthians 10:21 (NKJV)

Every Weight

// June 12th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

John never married and after he retired he purchased about three acres of land, along with a house and small barn, across the river from a small community. And the fact that the nearest bridge was about ten miles down river didn’t bother John in the least.

The river wasn’t all that wide and when he needed to go to town for a few items all he had to do was he get in his motorboat, and in less time that it took to drive twenty miles he was pulling up to the village boat dock.

One afternoon as John went down to his boat he noticed some dark clouds off in the distance and knew he needed to hurry if he were to make it back home before the storm arrived.

Getting in his boat he quickly untied the rope that was wrapped around the dock post, checked the gas tank, started up the motor, and headed off toward the village. But he had not traveled far before the boat slowed down and came to a stop even though the propeller was still churning the water.

After shutting off the motor he discovered that the anchor, which had fallen into the water the day before, something he had forgotten about in his hurry to beat the storm, had snagged on something in the water.

After pulling the anchor back into the boat it didn’t take long to complete his trip across the river and back home again.

There are many things that will slow us down in our walk with the Lord, and if not corrected may cause us to walk in our own way.

We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us cast off those things that will be a hindrance to us in our walk with God.

“Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.” Psalm 86:11 (NKJV)

“… Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…. ” Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)

The Risk

// June 11th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

A video uploaded on You Tube on august 14, 2011 shows woman jumping behind the protective fence erected to protect the visitors from falling into the Niagara River.

While this woman made it back over the fence others have not been so fortunate and have been swept over the Falls, which usually resulted in their death.

Yet in spite of the dangers and the warning signs many continue, for one reason or another, to either climb over the protective fence or stand on the rock pillars that are part of the protective barrier.

While no harm comes to most of those who take these chances there is always the danger that a misstep that will result in falling into the swift flowing river.

And Park officials may wonder why so many are willing to risk their lives for the thrill of a moment or just to defy the odds.

While most visitors are not willing to take the risk of climbing over the Niagara Falls protective barrier, many are willing, for various reasons, to risk the loss of eternal life by crossing over the barriers God has given us in His Word.

And our guardian angels may wonder why so many are willing to take the risk of losing such a great gift for a few years of fleeting pleasure.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 (KJV)

The Old Table

// June 8th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

As Bob was looking through a used furniture store one day he spotted an old kitchen table in the back of the store. As he turned the table over Bob was delighted to discover that it was a maple butcher block top table. And although the table had seen better days and had been painted at some time Bob pictured what it would look like after it was restored.

When Bob asked the price of the table the owner said it had been back there a long time and he could have it for five dollars. Delighted with his find Bill loaded the table in the back of his pickup and took it back to his workshop.

Over the next few weeks Bill removed the paint, and lightly sanded the surface. Then, because the table would not be used for preparing food, he gave the table several coats of clear polyurethane.

Now, other than showing some battle scars from many years of use, Bill now had a great looking table worth many times more than what he had paid for it.

Without Christ in our lives we are a lot like that old table Bill found. And even with all of our “good works” we are all in need of restoration. But Christ sees the potential in each one of us.

And if we allow Him to He will restore us and make us worthy to be called “children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.” Galatians 3:26 (KJV)

Weak Spots In Our Boat

// June 6th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

Jack had been wanting a boat for quite some time and one Sunday as he was looking through the classifieds he saw an ad that caught his eye. So he called the number and made an appointment to see the boat the next evening.

After checking things out he became the proud owner of a great looking boat, complete with motor and trailer.

Jack was eager to try out his “new” boat so the next chance he got he invited several of his friends to go along with him and spend the day out on the lake. The weather was perfect, the boat preformed well, and they were having a great time.

After riding around for a couple of hours they stopped to explore a small island before returning to the mainland. Setting up their folding chairs they enjoyed the food they had brought along while watching the activities out on the lake.

Finally it was time to return home so they loading their things in the boat and headed back to shore. But they had not traveled very far before someone noticed they were taking on water.

Even though Jack and his friends did not have too far to go there were several inches of water by the the time they reached the boat ramp.

Later as Jack examined the boat he discovered that a patch he had failed to notice had weakened, allowing water to come into the boat. Carefully checking out the rest of the boat he found that everything else was in good shape.

We may considered ourselves to be solid and unwavering in many ways. But if we have one or two area in our lives we are unwilling to surrender to God it will be enough to cause our spiritual boat to take on water.

But when we surrender those areas to God and seek forgiveness then we will be among those of whom Paul wrote when he quoted Psalm 32:1, “…. Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” Romans 4:7 (KJV)

We Must Accept God’s Offer

// June 6th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

There had been a record snowfall during the winter and now with the coming of warm weather the warning was for a record high crest for the river that ran through town.

But the citizens build up the levee with sandbags and they felt they had everything under control. But just as the river crept up within a foot or so of the top of the sandbags several days of widespread heavy rains moved in.

The heavy rains sent the water over the top of the sandbags and many people had to be evacuated.

But not Henry, who lived alone in an old two story house. When the water reached the second floor Henry just moved on up into his attic. And when the rescuers came Henry, who was watching the flood from his rooftop, waved them off and told them he had weathered many a flood and saw no need to leave his home now.

But this was no ordinary flood and after a few days the old house was swept away by the raging flood.

We live in a in a world of sin and without divine help humankind will be swept away in the final judgment. But although God has made provisions to rescue the entire human race many wave Him off and say they are able to take care of themselves.

The devil also tries to ease our minds by saying God loves us so much He surely would not deny us eternal life.

Yes, God does want everyone to have eternal life, but we must accept His offer of help, ask for forgiveness, and be willing to turn our lives over to Him.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (KJV)

This same thought is brought out in the book of Acts. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19 (KJV)

Heavenly Vending Machine

// June 4th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

Ron had several projects on his desk that needed to be completed so instead of taking his regular lunch break he purchased a couple items and a drink from the vending machines in the break room.

Returning to his desk Ron picked up where he had left off as he consumed the items he had purchased, and he was feeling good about the time he had saved until he began to get hungry again a couple of hours later.

Vending machines are convenient when we are in a hurry, and they can supply us a quick tasty snack or drink. And while it’s true that many of the items in vending machines do not provide us with the best nutrition they do taste good.

They also take care of our immediate needs or desires, mainly the need to satisfy the demands of our stomach until we are able to partake of a more nutritious meal.

With the fast paced world we live in with it’s many demands for our time we need to be careful we don’t treat our relationship with God like a vending machine experience. Like getting a quick spiritual pickup until we have time for something more substantial.

It’s also possible to have a similar attitude in our prayer life, thinking of God as some kind of heavenly vending machine. Like making a request (much like pushing a button) and expecting immediate result, and becoming upset when we don’t get the desired results when we want it.

We are told we need to “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14 (KJV)

We also need to trust God enough to believe He knows what is best for us and to “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him…” Psalm 37:7 (KJV)

Eternal Benefits

// June 4th, 2013 // No Comments » // Meditations

Bruce Dewey – Elder at the Lenoir City Seventh Day Adventist Church

Billy lived in a small town and a few days after school let out for the summer he was walking past a local grocery store when he noticed a “Stock Boy Wanted” sign in the window.

When Mr. Baker the store owner asked Billy how he could help him Billy said he came in to see about the job.

After Mr. Baker explained what his duties would be Billy asked, “And what benefit package are you offering?”

It may have been a long time ago but there was a time when those seeking employment were more interested in how much the employer paid than in what benefit package they offered.

But all that changed with the times and now days the benefit package is nearly as important as the hourly or weekly pay.

The devil may tells us we will get short-changed if we follow God’s plan for our lives. But what he fails to tells us is that his benefits, as great as they may be, are only temporary, while God’s benefits are for this life and for eternity..

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” Psalm 103:2 (KJV)