Friday, October 23, 2015
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Most young married couples make some purchases that turn out to be a transaction that they are not proud of. Remember something you bought back then that ended up being a mistake? My wife and I were marriage rookies when we bought that refrigerator. We were also pretty broke. We saw an ad in the paper for a cheap refrigerator. I was getting tired of just putting another block of ice in the sink in the kitchen. (Not really.) Well, we picked up the refrigerator, we sat it up in the kitchen and it worked!
One night when we returned home, we flipped on the kitchen light and saw we had company. Cockroaches were everywhere, scurrying for cover. It turns out the seller had stored that refrigerator in the basement, and roaches had gotten in and laid eggs in the insulation a long time ago, and they hatched out in their new home which was our home! Just turning on the light that night exposed a serious problem we had to deal with.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have "A Word With You" today about "The Light and The Cockroaches."
Our word for today from the Word of God, we are in Matthew 11, beginning in Verse 20. It says, "Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles had been performed." Why? Because they did not repent. You see, these people had seen a blaze of light from heaven in the form of miracles that the Lord had done in their lives. But it says "they didn't repent." He says they should have!
Verse 21: "Woe to you Chorazin, woe to you Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes, but I tell you it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judgment than for us." He goes on to talk about Capernaum. He said, "Years ago, Sodom would have shaped up if they had seen God at work like you've seem Him. Which brings us to you and me.
Has God done some pretty powerful things in your life? Have you been an eye-witness to His grace, His goodness, to the provision of God? That's suppose to be like a bright light that shines into your life, but do you know what God's miracles on your behalf are suppose to do? That blaze of light is suppose to show you the cockroaches that need to be dealt with: sin, compromise, areas where you've been settling for less than His best.
The bottom line: His miracle should lead to your repentance. God breaks into your situation not only to deliver you, but to call you to examine your relationship with Him. God did what you asked Him to do. Now are you going to do what He's asking you to do?
In our ministry we've seen the Lord answer prayer dramatically. We've seen Him do some things that only He could do, and we've praised Him and we've thanked Him. But He's also expecting us to stand in the light of those miracles and ask, "Lord, what do you want to show us about how we can be more like you; anything you want us to change?"
See, repentance isn't just about feeling sorry for something; it literally means a change of mind. God often sends a miracle to make you reflective about your relationship with Him about your life, and then to lead you closer to Him than you've ever been before, to change something you might have never thought about if it hadn't been for the light of His miracle breaking into your life.
Now, you've got your answer to prayer; you've got your miracle from God. Jesus shone a bright light on your life. Now the light should also show you those cockroaches, the things you need to deal with that you never would have seen except in the light of the great work Jesus has done.