NOT ANOTHER ORDINARY DAY

Pastor Frank Ellis

eIt is often we get up and expect to have another ordinary day Life seems to have trained us to cope with what we know. I was inspired to look at Acts chapter 3 with a new perspective. Ac 3:2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Ac 3:3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms Ac 3:4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. Ac 3:5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them Now suppose the next verse went like this Peter and John pulled a few drachmas out of their pocket and gave to the lame man. The lame man would have thanked them and went home happy that he had received some money Peter and John would have felt good about giving to the poor. For the lame man it would have been another ordinary day It is what was expected

Moving to Mark chapter 10 starting at verse 46 we read of a blind man name Bartimaeus sitting beside the road begging For him it was another ordinary day He heard Jesus was passing by and began to cry Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Now let’s pretend that Jesus looked to Judas their treasurer and said “Judas go give the beggar some of our silver” That would have shown some mercy and Bartimaeus would have lived as always, another ordinary day. We know that these two incidences ended differently The lame man of Act 3 was healed at the name of Jesus Christ. Strength went to his bones and he had an extra-ordinary time of running, leaping and praising God Bartimaeus in Mark 10 instead of money received his eyesight and marking this an miraculous day.

We all seem to have days that become extraordinary

Each year we try to make our birthday special I remember my wedding day of July 8, 1972 That was one very special day Then I remember losing my wife in the head-on collision July 14, 2008 What was supposed to be another ordinary day turned into an extraordinary day Though tragic, I still found rejoicing in God that day.

A group of young people went to a camp meeting in August of 1971 We were all going for the fellowship and expected to have a great time as the services had great singing, worship, and ministers of the morning service and night service being preached by Bro Paul Winters. This was a Monday night to Friday night camp meeting Wednesday night was to be another ordinary service But, God had different plans The service started out ordinary enough with a few songs, a testimony, and a choir got up to sing However, one young man began to worship God, and behold God filled him with the Holy Ghost as the choir was singing. He was dancing, speaking in tongues. The choir sang about two more songs while this was going on The choir sat down and this young man kept dancing, shouting, and speaking in tongues. After a few minutes, the beloved Paul Winters spoke his shortest sermon ever “ If you want what he has, come and get it” It was the catalyst for a great time by God’s people at that camp that night. At midnight Those who were still under God’s spell were being carried to cars or dorms as the service was dismissed It was no longer an ordinary camp meeting. It became extraordinary

It was an ordinary day tending the flocks of Moses until he saw a fire not consuming a bush Imagine hearing a voice saying take your shoes off you are on holy ground Another ordinary day for Gideon trying to hide while threshing wheat when an angel shows up calling him a mighty man of valor Then being told that he who was the least of his family and his family the least of Israel would be the leader to bring victory over their enemy. Another ordinary day for Daniel until he was to be cast into a den of lions Yet God gave him victory in extraordinary circumstance It was another ordinary day for Saul of Tarsus to persecute those in this way they called heresy when a great light shone upon him and cast him to the ground being blinded An extra-ordinary day for Ananias to go pray for this Saul the persecutor. Let God shake up your ordinary with His divine love. Your day may become extraordinary for the Kingdom

What are the results of God making your day extra special? For Moses, it became leading God’s people out of slavery going through the Red sea on dry ground For Gideon it was breaking oppression and winning a victory with only 300 followers. For Daniel is was being lifted out a den of lions the next morning For the beggars it was receiving a healing For Saul of Tarsus it was a life changing soul saving event. He now had a new zeal for serving God in the correct way. For me, it was learning God is in control of my life and bringing me through tests and trials with calm assurance God is doing His best for me. What is your results of having an etra-ordinary day?

I start my day now with “Lord, how can I make today better than yesterday?” I now pray that our church services become extra-ordinary. It is no longer life as usual What about you? Are you really satisfied with life as usual? Isn’t time to allow and let God make each day extra-ordinary? Are you ready for the extra-ordinary that God has to offer? I may not see all that God is doing But I know that prayers are still being answered Our prayers are powerful. I know that souls are being saved as Acts 2: 47 states that God added to the church daily such as should be saved Help me Lord to be a small part of these miracles by my prayer life and witnessing.

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We read the words of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 where he was prod to have lived according to the law, but being saved is more than the law. Our obedience to fulfill our calling takes us to Jesus Jesus asked the young rule to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. The young man didn’t obey. Something so simple can make us lose the path of life

What happens when someone leaves the path of life? What we read in Jn 3:36 is that: the wrath of God abideth on him They that leave the path leave their relationship with Jesus and they lose the prize which is eternal life That is not the worst part of it The worst part of it is that they continue to believe that they are save and that they are going to Heaven They left the path of life in their disobedience, and they didn’t even realize what had happened. They will say in that Day: We did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets; and the Lord will reply I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth

No one wants to lose but we don’t only lose at the end The loser is the person that thought that believing and confessing was enough. God wants all to be saved and that is why he sent his Son to die for our sins Salvation starts with believing and to believe we must have faith. Believing in itself is not enough We must live in obedience to the direction of Jesus Christ in our lives and continue firmly planted in the Faith until the end Everyone that is not on the path of life at the end LOST

In what path are you walking? Many of those that believed are going to be lost because without obedience their belief is in vain.