“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”– Gal. 6:2

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but I’ll say it anyway– Christians, including preachers, aren’t perfect. That’s something I’m reminded of everyday. And although we want to be the best we can be sometimes we don’t even come close. We fail more than we like to admit. The spark that ignited my thoughts about this matter was a statement I made in my sermon notes for an upcoming message. Here it is–” As a Christian you need to stop trying to justify your fears by pointing out the severity or size of your problem. We never have a problem that’s too big for God. He is able”. That’s true and easy to say, but preaching is one thing and practice is another.

It is a sad fact that we are sometimes so troubled by our troubles that we act as though God is dead, mighty sick, or out of town and unavailable. Of course we know better, but our mind tells us one thing and our emotions something else. And pretending we’ve got our act together might hide our faults from others, but it doesn’t help us. Nor does it help if we dump our wagon load of worries on others– something that can be hard to resist. Sometimes we feel like shouting our problems from the mountain top for the whole world to hear. However, the Spirit whispers in our ear, ” every man shall bear his own burden” ( Gal. 6:5). In other words, we shouldn’t burden others with our burdens. But that raises a question, “If we can’t share them and we feel we can’t bear them, what do we do?” And make no mistake, we all sometimes feel that our burden is more than we can carry. What then? The only solution is found in Psa. 55:22 “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee…”.

I mention all this for two reasons. First, to assure you that help is available. Second, to remind you to be patient with others. Some are like Job when he said, ” ..my complaint is bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning” (Job 23:2). To put it another way– my suffering is worse than my sighs, my calamity is worse than my complaint. Knowing others are suffering worse than words can tell ought to move us to do as we’re told in Gal. 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”. There are burdens we can share, burdens we must bear, and burdens we can neither share nor bear. The only thing that keeps us going is God’s sustaining grace– it is always sufficient! – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“But so shall it not be among you….” Mark 10:43
Whether viewed as instruction, a command, or a warning from the Lord, it was in reality a sad indictment against His disgruntled disciples–in more ways than one. As Jesus faced the cross, the disciples were focused on a throne. Rather than thinking of Him they were thinking about themselves – who was the greatest. It started with James and John (vs. 35-40) but it spread to the other ten (vs. 41-42). How sad. At a time when they should have been thinking of Christ they made it all about themselves. And now the ten are angry with James and John, so now we see a disgrace, a distraction, and a division in the church.

Their bickering had to do with who will be the greatest in the kingdom. By way of rebuke, the Lord draws a contrast between the way it should be with them and the way it was with the gentiles. And, He declares in no uncertain terms that the greatest is he who is willing to serve rather than rule. It might be the opposite with the gentiles, but He says,”..so shall it not be among you”.

Looking beyond the strict context of this we see here a principle that is to be applied to our lives in general. We are to be different! Just because something is lawful, popular, and pleasurable it doesn’t mean we should do it. We are obligated to be unlike this sinful world. This gets to the very root of a very serious problem today. Christians have lost their distinction. While we profess Christ as our Lord and Savior, and proclaim that we are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17), the world sees no difference between us and them. And that makes a huge difference in our ability to reach them for Christ. Considering the average Christian’s conduct, is it any wonder that we have such a hard time in getting people to listen to our message?

Although we are in the world, we are not of it (John 17:14-16). The world should see a marked difference between us and them. If we lose our distinction we destroy our effectiveness. I’m not talking about being different just for the sake of being different, I’m talking about being different because we walk in obedience to God’s Word and they don’t. And, considering the ways of the world, the difference should be drastic! We must never forget that although we are not of the world we are in it and sent to it with the glorious gospel of Christ. Before we can convince the world to listen to our message they must see the difference that Christ makes in a person’s life. God forbid that we fail! – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“….I was brought low, and he helped me.”–Psalms 116:6

One of my favorite songs is “He Lifted Me”. It reminds us of God’s help for the fallen. Due to the nature of the world and the needs of man, disappointments are common. We are born with certain appetites and the world is shouting in our ear, like a merchant selling his wares, “Try this” or “Try that”, but we keep coming up empty. The world is long on promises but short on provisions. So we might well expect to be disappointed. But the Christians greatest disappointment is with self. We feel as Paul described in Rom. 7. We have the desire, our goal is high, but we keep coming up short–and it hurts. We earnestly strive to do well, but we keep failing. We labor to ascend, but we fall– we are “brought low”.

Our text tells us two things–his troubles—“I was brought low”, and his testimony—“He helped me”. Commenting on this, James Smith wrote: “The circumstances of the Christian often vary — and it is     no uncommon thing for his frames and feelings to vary with his    circumstances. On this account, many of the Lord’s people are either    elevated — or depressed, but seldom enjoy a calm, peaceful,     and settled state of mind. Their depression is great — or their     joys are high. But even this is overruled for their good, and is     sanctified to the humbling of the soul, and the preserving it from     self–importance and pride. What a mercy it is to have a God to go to — let     our frames and feelings be what they may. What a mercy to have one who will     sympathize with us, and of whom it is said, “Like as a father pities his children — so the Lord pities those who fear him.” This was David’s encouragement, and lay at the root of much of his experience, and led him to say, “I was brought low — and He helped me.”

Dear friend, this God is our God, and just as He helped the Psalmist He will help you. Regardless of the nature or number of your trials we serve a God who is able to help. His help might not come in the form we expect, nor in the time we desire, but help always comes to those in God’s will. If He doesn’t do what we think is best it because He has something even better in mind.–HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.“–Lam. 2:11

A good portion of the Bible has to do with God and man pleading with others to turn from their wicked ways and flee from the destruction toward which they are headed. Even so a large part of every pastor’s time is spent doing the same. And, although much needed, it can be a very painful experience.

It is heartbreaking watching people wreck and ruin their lives. And, try as you may, you just cannot stop some people from doing so. They are determined to live as they please without any regard for what pleases God. Not only do they resist your efforts and reject your warnings, they resent what they believe is your intrusion into their life. That leaves you brokenhearted. You know from experience that God’s Word is true, God’s will is right, and God’s way is best, but you are unable to convince them that it is so.

This disappointing experience has a way of draining your energy, dragging you down, and deepening your depression to the point that you feel like quitting. That’s what happened to Jeremiah (Jer. 20:7-13). And, make no mistake about it, if it could happen to him it could happen to you or me. Although a noble trait, there is a high price to pay for a tender heart. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, was overwhelmed because he could not bear to see the destruction of his people (Lam.3:48). That is a feeling well known by many pastors, parents and others. To see those you love hurting hurts! To see them hurt by things over which they have no control is painful, but to see them do it to themselves is even worse. Self-destruction is senseless.

However, as disheartening as this is we must not quit. Although our efforts prove to be in vain in some instances, our persistence will prove profitable in others. While we can’t reach everybody, we can reach somebody, and that makes the effort worthwhile! Don’t give up! – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346