Tag Archives: locust

Building and Building On | Bible Gleanings – Oct 2-3, 2021

September 30, 2021 Brandon G. B. Leave a comment

“It’s about time you showed up!” Jordan was already hard at work when I arrived at the jobsite. He asked for a helping hand earlier that day on the way to lunch. “Why don’t you come by after school and help me build my garage?” I obliged and drove over in my 1995 Thunderbird. When I pulled into the driveway, I was surprised to see a garage nearly finished. The bulk of the work had already been done; all I did was put the finishing touch on a project he had been working on for weeks.

Whether you are preaching the gospel to the lost or encouraging someone to walk closer with the Lord, remember this: God is always at work long before you get there. God often uses you to finish a job He’s been working on for weeks, years, or even decades. Many times, you are merely building on a foundation God has already laid through the work of other believers. As Paul said, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:5-7).

Who knows how many sermons your neighbor has heard before you arrive at the doorstep? Who knows how many gospel testimonies your coworker has heard before you share yours? Who knows how many prayers have been uttered for a lost soul before you pray for them? Who knows how deeply God has tilled the fallow ground of a sinner’s heart before you sow the gospel seed?

Maybe your neighbor needs to hear the gospel one more time. Maybe your friend needs to hear one more testimony. Perhaps your relative needs just one more earnest prayer. Your witness, encouraging words, or prayers could be the final drop of water necessary for the gospel seed to germinate in a sinner’s soul. You might be laying a foundation for someone else, but you might be finishing it off, too.

Philip the evangelist would agree. Multitudes were saved when he preached the gospel in Samaria (Acts 8:5-13), and his success was largely due to the fact that he built on a foundation Christ already laid when He visited Samaria. The Samaritan leper who fell at Jesus’ feet was on his feet spreading the gospel before Philip showed up (Luke 17:16). Likewise, the Samaritan woman testified about Jesus long before Philip arrived (John 4:39). Philip simply poured water on thousands of gospel seeds that had already been sown.

Friend, never pass up an opportunity to share the gospel or encourage someone to mature in the faith. You are always laying a foundation or building on one. You are always planting the seed or watering it.

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Guilty Stains | Bible Gleanings – May 29-30, 2021

May 28, 2021 Brandon G. B. Leave a comment

Guilty Stains

Once you are in the chair, they bring out the laser, pull the trigger, and a barrage of sizzling beams penetrate your skin. Remain calm—this is not what happens when aliens abduct you—they have to fight Tom Cruise first. This is the experience of thousands of people who have undergone the procedure of laser tattoo removal in order to eliminate unwanted tattoos. Since the commercialization of “Q-switched lasers” in the 1990s, dermatologists have made a fortune from people willing to foot the bill to have tattoos removed that they regret.

According to one study, 78% of tattooed individuals regret at least one of their tattoos. 31% regret getting inked because the tattoo is no longer relevant. An ex-girlfriend’s name was dotted on their chest, or a blue horseshoe was stamped on their arm when they were superfans of the Indianapolis Colts. About 5% are annoyed with their tattoos because they have a negative effect on their professional life. And 40% shake their heads because their tattoos were poorly done. Ironically, one fellow got a tattoo that read, “No Regerts.”

This is why many have turned to the laser to get them removed. After the scorching laser drills into the skin, the tattoo ink absorbs the heat and shatters into tiny fragments that eventually flush away with time. However, every dermatologist will admit that some tattoos will never fully disappear, even with multiple laser treatments. In many cases, the laser is only powerful enough to fade or lighten tattoos. Some marks will never go away no matter how hard you try.

Whether or not you have tattoos, you are marked from head to toe by something that nothing on earth can remove: the guilty stain of sin. Because of the Fall, your heart and hands are blotched by the black ink of evil. And no amount of human effort can expunge the guilty imprint of sin upon you. A million-dollar offering to your church won’t burn it off. A fifty-year membership at the biggest church in town won’t eliminate it. A thousand gallons of baptism waters won’t wash it away. A hundred hours a year at the food pantry won’t erase the stain of sin on your soul either. As God Himself says, “Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the LORD GOD” (Jeremiah 2:22).

The blood of Jesus is the only efficient stain remover for sin. The word of God declares, “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7b, KJV). As William Cowper wrote in 1771, “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.” Plunge in by faith (Eph. 2:8-9), and receive total purification for your sins—you won’t regret it.

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

The Highest and Holiest Name | Bible Gleanings – May 15-16, 2021

May 14, 2021 Brandon G. B. Leave a comment

The Highest and Holiest Name

As I turned the dial in search of some tunes to pass time on the interstate, an ad from a prominent law firm played between songs: “Name recognition matters, so let the biggest and best name in Alabama represent you and your personal injury claim. Contact our office today!” They boasted of the millions of dollars recovered for their clients, and assured that clients only pay, “if and when we win your case.” However, their greatest appeal was that no law firm in the state was as recognizable as they were. Insurance companies would sweat and shudder when they heard the name. The defendant’s lawyer would melt like wax. And the client could have unshakable confidence in their ability to win the case because of being represented by the most popular name in law.

They were right—name recognition does matter, and who you chose to present your case before a judge is crucial. Who you chose to represent you before the throne of God in the heavenly court on the day of judgment is far more important, however. One day the books will be opened and God will judge you according to what is written in them (Rev. 20:11-15). And you need the highest and holiest name in all the universe to win your case before God so you can spend eternity in heaven. This Man’s name is the most exalted “in heaven and on earth and under the earth,” so much so that every knee will one day bow at the mere mention of His name (Phil. 2:9-11). Who is this man? John the apostle told us: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1).

As a sinner, you stand condemned before God (John 3:18). Your sins are piled higher than your head and your guilt reaches the heavens (Ezra 9:6). The good news is, if you have believed on Christ, He is your defense attorney before God. He is your Advocate, the One who pleads (and wins) your case. The only defense sufficient to cover your sins is Jesus Christ and His shed blood. Ironically, Jesus is also the one who will do the judging: “[God] will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him [Jesus] from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

The greatness of your name doesn’t matter, and neither does the name of the church you belong to—there’s only one name that saves: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Buddy Tape | Bible Gleanings – May 8-9, 2021

May 6, 2021 Brandon G. B. Leave a comment

Buddy Tape

“The doctor said this ‘Buddy Tape’ will help my fingers heal,” my mother told me recently. She fell on the squeaky back deck of my parents’ house, and her ring and pinky fingers took a hit. Both were broken beyond healing. The doctor gave her two options for healing: surgery, or Buddy Tape, which is a stretchy Velcro wrap that promotes healing by keeping her fingers together.

She chose the latter, and her broken fingers were bound together in this miniature cast. The catch is, without surgery, they will never be completely healed—but they are better off joined together. Left to themselves, both fingers would suffer more, and neither could be useful to the hand any longer. But yoked together, they could help each other straighten out. In other words, mutual support would do the job.

This reminded me of what King Solomon wrote: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). You and I are broken people, also because of a fall—a fall from grace into sin, which happened when our first parents sinned in the Garden (Genesis 3). And although will never be completely healed of our spiritual brokenness in this life, we are better off joined together with other believers who can help straighten us out. Without mutual love, prayers, and support for each other, we all suffer—both we and our fellow brethren are left to face our brokenness alone.

God’s desire is that we stick close together as a spiritual family in the local church so we can lift each other up. As Paul put it, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). The Lord also wants you to administer grace and support to fellow believers when they’ve had a hard fall. In fact, you have an obligation to do so: “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up” (Romans 15:1-2).

You also have an obligation to seek support and love from other believers to help you in your own weaknesses. Isolation from other followers of Jesus is dangerous: “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment” (Proverbs 18:1). It is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18).

Who are you joined together with in the Christian life?

devotions, Other

The Record of Sin | Bible Gleanings – October 17-18, 2020

October 14, 2020 Brandon G. B. Leave a comment

The Record of Sin

There was a hardworking Englishman who was due for a holiday (or a vacation, as we call it). He loaded his car, a 1940’s Rolls-Royce, on a steady boat and set out across the continent to enjoy some rest from work. While he drove around Europe to experience its sights and sounds, he heard something rather unpleasant—an unusual ticking coming from the engine. He immediately contacted Rolls-Royce back in England and asked, “I’m having trouble with my car; what do you suggest I do?” Since Rolls-Royce valued excellency, they flew a mechanic to his location. That’s what I call customer service! The mechanic examined the engine and presumably made necessary repairs, then flew back to England to let the man continue his holiday.

As the story is told, the man began to question, “How much is this going to cost me?” When his holiday concluded, he wrote them a letter asking how much he owed. In no time he received a letter from their office that read: “Dear Sir: There is no record anywhere in our files that anything ever went wrong with a Rolls-Royce.”

There is a letter from God’s office that says the same thing about you, if you are a believer in Christ: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14). The Lord God cancelled and cleared the record of debt that stood against you by nailing it through the hands of His Son. Because of this, there is no record anywhere that you ever did anything wrong. On the cross, a marvelous exchange took place so that the record of your sins could be canceled. Namely, God credited your sin to Jesus and credited His righteousness to you. At Calvary, the Son of God made your record His own and gave you His perfect record in exchange.

Paul said it like this: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Similarly, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13a). The registry of your sin and guilt is gone. The only record that remains is the Book that contains the names of all those who are covered by the blood of Christ, the Lamb’s Book of Life (Revelation 13:8; 17:8; 20:15; 21:27).

The question is: what is God’s file on you? Does God have a full record of your sin? Or have you had your record of sin removed by trusting in Jesus Christ?

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Sermons

The Highway to Hell and the Hard Road to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14)

November 17, 2019 Brandon G. B. Leave a comment

The following sermon was delivered at Locust Grove Baptist Church, the 17th day of November 2019, during the morning service:

Sermons

The Persecuted Church (Rev. 2:8-11)

November 15, 2018 Brandon G. B. Leave a comment

The following sermon was delivered at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky, on the 5th day of May 2018, during the morning service:

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their two dogs, Susie and Aries.