This is post TEN of a ten part blog – HELPFUL HINTS. Feel free to review the recent weekly submissions.
It’s been fun to share with you some “nuggets” the past two months that have blessed me over the years. I pray that some (if not all of them) have been a blessing to you. This week I wanted to give you two bonus hints along with number ten. In the last nine weeks I have shared with you REBOUND, Respect, RELATIONSHIPS, Recognize, READ, Ready, REACH, Retreat and RETURN to Sender.
The first of two free HELPFUL HINTS that I’ll leave with you as I conclude this chapter is REMEMBER. As humans we are guilty of having a short term memory. Even mature Christians resemble more of that 80’s hit “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?” than Ronnie Milsap’s: “What a DIFFERENCE you’ve made in my life.” Unfortunately, this is nothing new. What has worked well for me as a Christian maturing in Christ is take an inventory frequently of how good God has been to me.
It is helpful to remember (recall) what God has done for us both mentally and via journal. Its priceless to write things down because if you can’t constantly RECALL what He’s already done you probably won’t REMEMBER later. Satan wants you to forget and then forfeit intimacy with Him. David said: “he had to encourage himself in the Lord.” NEWSFLASH: It is not entirely your pastor’s job to encourage you at every mile marker. We need to “taste and see that the Lord is good” and allow God to feed us.
When times get tough (and they do get hard) remember how good God has been in the past. This reminds me immediately of His Presence and Promises in the Present. Secondly, He is always faithful and never failed yet and can be trusted in the future. When times get tough by REMEMBERING with an attitude of THANKSgiving has made the present storm seem not as horrific. Plus, recalling God’s faithfulness reminds me instantly that He did it not only in the past but capable of doing it again. Even better, He’s in the process of coming through!
Remembering is great but REPENTING is grand. Whenever I stumble I found it best to immediately get alone with God and ask for forgiveness and repent of any and all wrong-doing. The more we walk in guilt and not grace not only prolongs the wrong but forfeits the freedom of forgiveness. In the wise words of Dr Johnny Hunt it is priceless to “stay close and stay clean.” FACT: I am of little value to others when I am not right with God. My walk with God (vertical) makes me more effective with connecting with others (horizontal). When you view both beams it forms the cross. No greater love is found than in the cross of Christ and when I am walking in the freedom of forgiveness it allows me to be a better blessing to others day or night.
Without question, I could have touched on any number of HELPFUL HINTS to close out some spiritual secrets that served me well to serve my Savior and Society. The last one is REWARD and certainly worth mentioning. We will definitely get some rewards for serving Christ. The Apostle Paul reminded us we are in a spiritual race similar to the Olympics and we can’t win cutting corners, undermining others, shadow-boxing with the wind or running another’s race stepping into their lane. We need to run our race assigned by the Almighty to get God’s rewards.
Truth be told, nothing is wrong for otaining awards and rewards. Since elementary school I have said privately and publicly that when I arrive at the Gates of Pearl – if I find no streets of gold, celestial sea, mansions made by The Master I would not be dissapointed. If it is just Jesus sitting in a folding chair it will still be Heaven to me. Right or wrong, I didn’t get in it for the crowds but Christ. It wasn’t for my fame but His faithfulness that enlisted and encouraged me from the start in this race.
We are in a race of gRACE. In my spiritual walk I have tried to be both intentional and relational. The road at times has been long and the race has been exhausting. I have seen some mountain-top highs and some deep, dark valleys but through it all God has been faithful. I learned that folks will make fun of you for doing right and others will mock you for doing wrong. It is a fact that critics will criticize either way. Since we will be teased either way it would benefit us all if we went down lifting UP God in our lives. I have also witnessed that the folks who tease you by day often think of you with respect at night (in the interim they are just to immature or insecure to say it). REMEMBER we will stand before Christ NOT critics. My mom shared something with me that stuck in my head like a tick on blood -“Better to make the last page of newspaper for doing right than making FRONT PAGE of the local news for doing wrong.”
In closing, I love “CASTING CROWNS.” Some may not know this but they got their name from the concept when we stand before JESUS in Heaven we will gladly and voluntarily CAST those CROWNS at Jesus’ Feet. He alone is worthy to wear a crown and He is Heaven to me. Life is filled with risks but the REWARDS with the Lord are out of this world.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.β – Jim Elliot (Missionary)
Great post bro! Love it!!
Frank, great seeing you again Friday night at the revival. God was all over you and I admired how you were so humble and so ON FIRE! Thanks again for the book. It was good to have you in my neck of the woods
Frank, you are a world-changer!!
I cannot tell you enough about how Blessed I was this weekend!! The revival at Bayside Baptist was AMAZING! The Holy Spirit moved in my Church and anyone that was there cannot tell me God doesn’t exist!! The music by “Light” was fantastic and Frank Shelton is truly a messenger from God! I am so motivated to be the Christian I am supposed to be, to share my story! I am answering the Call! Our Choir sang a song today that rocked and it said:
“Call upon the name of the Lord, He’s our Defender, our Deliverer. Our Shelter in the midst of the storm. Jesus, our Savior, He is King over all the earth!” Frank, you will never know this side of Heaven how much your sermons meant to me this weekend
PRAISE THE LORD WOAH that is amazing!!!!! God is working through you BIG TIME! Building the Kingdom- can’t wait to see all the faces in heaven because we shared the Gospel, you know? Any time you want me to fast for you, just let me know! It is a powerful thing, and I can’t even explain to people why it works, I just know that it DOES work. π YES YES YES! I’m SO excited for you! Woooo hoooo!
βFor Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.β 1 Peter 3:18
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Bro Frank I want you to know that I love to read your blog posts. You truly pour yourself out for us each week. I share them with everyone on my email list and I am trying to get you to preach at my relatives church in North Carolina. God bless you friend
Thank you Frank for bring the WORD of the Lord to us this weekend. We appreciate you brother and look forward to talking to you soon. May God continue to bless you and your ministry as you reach the lost for Christ!
So good to be at Bayside Baptist on Sunday to hear you again Frank! I had no idea you were preaching their revival and hadn’t seen you in almost a year but on the way home it dawned on me that everytime you preach REVIVAL breaks out regardless if they wanted it or not. I love to hear you preach and you are one of a kind. Love you man and proud of you
Frank – sounds like you had a great weekend at the revival. I would have loved to have taken the road trip from PA and come to the rivival to hear you preach again. I had planned that my mom and I would come down. Hubby talked me out of it because of my back… good thing because last night my mom ended up in the ER w a kidney stone. That would have been rough