Books
Jesus Didn’t Need a Pulpit
by Linda Sedrick Pearson
Did you ever stop to think about how Jesus never had to have a pulpit in order to preach or teach? He preached from a boat (Mark 4:38), on a hillside (Matthew 5:1), in the plain (Luke 6:17), or wherever he went. This makes me think that maybe we put too much pomp and circumstance into the preaching and teaching. Maybe it’s time we get back to the basics and get down in the crowd with the people to speak with the people not to them.
I have heard a lot of men lately state that God has called them to preach. That is awesome and I thank God for calling more to preach. I pray that they all remember that a preacher is just a teacher and they should make sure they fellowship with all the people. Don’t worry about a pulpit to stand behind. Get out into the world and teach the people like Jesus did. Then, you will really be following in Jesus’ footsteps.
Victory Over Death, Hell, and the Grave – He is Alive!
by Linda S. Pearson
Many religions worship saviors, but Christians are the only followers that have a Savior that is alive! His name is Jesus and when the disciples went to his tomb on that first Easter morning, they found it empty. Why? Because while his dead body (he died for all of the sins of all people) – an empty shell – lay in that tomb, Jesus Christ traveled to the very depths of hell. He had to experience everything that mankind experiences so that we could all accept and receive his death on the cross as payment for all of our sins.
While in hell, he walked up to Satan and, with the devil humbled, that old serpent crawled up to Jesus and handed over the keys of death and hell. Jesus turned and walked away.
Returning to his empty shell (his body), he put it on one more time. The stone rolled away and Jesus prepared to meet with his disciples and many witnesses once again. There were approximately 515 witnesses that saw Jesus once he was resurrected.
After He gave them their last instructions, the Father called his Son home. A few witnesses saw him ascend into heaven. The angels gave the promise that he will return again. This time he comes to take his rightful place as King of all (not just the Jews).
Are you ready for his return? If not, accept him today!
The Healing River
Linda Sedrick Pearson
Ezekiel 47:9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
When I look at this verse in Ezekiel it makes me understand better why Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of men.” Look at this verse in Ezekiel. It says that there will be a great multitude of fish because of the waters and they shall be healed. I think God was talking about the healing of people through the Living Water – Jesus Christ. Revelations 21:6 states, “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” In John 4:14 Jesus said, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Finally, in Revelations 22:17 he says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
The more I study about the river, especially a healing river, the more it points me to Jesus Christ. After all, when you come to the Living River (Jesus), you shall live! How great is that?
Thank you God for the Living Water and for the River that heals all our sins and sicknesses. Amen
Thou Shalt Be Called Sought Out
by Linda Sedrick Pearson
Isaiah 62:11-12 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
I don’t know about you, but for me to read that the Lord is calling me, ‘Sought out,’ it is amazing. It makes my heart jump for joy. Imagine the Lord God sitting in his heaven on his beautiful throne and seeking the earth for us! To know that someone loves me enough to search for me is the most wonderful love I can ever hope for. God himself – the Lord God Almighty – has sought me out. What else could I want but that? There is nothing else.
Not only am I sought out, but I am a city not forsaken. God has not forsaken me. No matter how alone I ever feel, I can remember these words and know that I am not alone. I am not forsaken. My God loves me and is with me. He has not forsaken me. He seeks me out and does not give up until he finds me!
How do you feel knowing that God seeks you out? Does it make you feel wanted? It does me. I hope you can find peace in these words as I have. You see, it doesn’t matter who rejects you and casts you aside. The Lord God Almighty has not thrown you away. No matter what, he wants you. He loves you enough to search for you. He has sought you out. He calls you a city not forsaken. He wants you! He loves you! Jesus Christ gave his life for you. What else can you want but that?
If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, what are you waiting on? Our reward is in him. He calls us ‘the holy people.’ Join us in the family of God. God is looking for you and waiting for you. All you have to do is call out his name. Ask him to forgive you of all of your sins. Accept and receive his love, peace, and joy. Let him call you, ‘a city not forsaken.’
Lost Soul – Importance of Discipleship
by Linda Sedrick Pearson
There is a battle for lost souls and nothing shows that better than the parable of the sower in Mark 4. In this study we will take a journey as a lost soul who comes to salvation through the stages of the sower’s parable. Through this journey, hopefully you will see the importance of discipleship.
Stage 1 – Mark 4:3-4
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow seed. While he was scattering the seed, some of it fell by the road. The birds came and ate all that seed.”
This is before salvation and before the soul is ready to listen to the word of God. The seeds are the Words of God. The sower is anyone who is a Christian that witnesses to others. Before a person is ready and willing to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the seeds (Words of God) fall by the wayside (an unaccepting soul). The fowls of the air that devour the seeds are pieces of everyday living – things of life that get in the way of the seed taking hold within the lost soul. This is that stage that everyone is at one time or another. These are people (lost souls) that have never accepted and do not want to accept the Lord Jesus Christ.
Stage 2 – Mark 4:5-6
“Other seed fell on rocky ground, where there was not enough dirt. It grew quickly there because the soil was not deep. But then the sun rose and the plants were burned. They died because they did not have deep roots.”
In this stage the Word of God falls on rocky ground (a hardened heart) but it does grow a little. The lost soul has realized there has to be more than worldly things. The soul has started to search and found some words that comforted her. The soil (background of Christian learning) is not deep. There is nothing for the lost soul to draw from to nourish the Word that started to grow. The seeds die within her because she has nothing to help the seeds grow. She does not know how. She doesn’t know enough to keep it from dying within herself.
Stage 3 – Mark 4:7
“Some other seed fell among thorny weeds. The weeds grew and stopped the good plants from growing. So they did not make grain. “
Here the lost soul tries hard to hold onto the Word of God, but the thorny weeds (family and friends living a lost life and cares of this world) do not support her. Instead, they grab hold of the seeds that have started to grow and pull it up by the root. Since there is not enough knowledge to keep this from happening, the lost soul fails again. At this point, the devil has realized he is losing ground with this lost soul and may soon lose her if he doesn’t join in this battle. He plants his evil thoughts in her mind and since she does not know how to defend herself, she loses the battle. She flounders until every good Word that was planted within her is choked out. She begins to lose hope that she can ever be saved. After all, she is unworthy (a lie of Satan).
Stage 4 – Mark 4:8
“But some of the seed fell on good ground. There it began to grow, and it made grain. Some plants made 30 times more grain, some 60 times more, and some 100 times more.”
The lost soul comes to the final stage of this journey. She has gathered up enough strength and hope to try one more time. This time the Word of God takes root, a foundation is laid, and fruit begins to appear. She is determined to not give up this time. She jumps in and starts reading her Bible. She attends church and Bible studies. She grabs onto a mature Christian who takes her under her wing and she nourishes her and teaches her. She disciples her like Paul did with Timothy and many others. The lost soul is no longer lost! She is the found sheep. She learns and grows and produces fruit (begins to witness and lead others to Jesus).
This parable shows us how important it is that we disciple others. Maybe if someone had discipled her at the first stage, she would not have gone through so much to finally get to salvation. Reach out, mentor someone. Help them learn. Spend time with others who are new to the Christian life. Teach them, lead them, and guide them. It is rewarding to do this. Try it and see for yourself. As you lead and teach others, you end up also teaching yourself and growing more in your faith and love for Jesus.
Don’t Blame God
If you got yourself into a relationship and that relationship turned bad – don’t blame God. People are free to make choices. God made us that way. It was 1) your choice to get into that relationship or situation and 2) the other person’s choice to get into that relationship or situation. Whatever went bad with that is on the two of you – not on God.
If you became a drug addict, alcoholic, or abuser of others – that was your choice. Stop blaming God for your mistakes and errors of life.
God is standing by waiting to heal you, love you, comfort you, lead and teach you. It is your fault if you continue to turn your back on God. Don’t blame God.
Whenever you die (or if Jesus comes back for us before that time), if you have not accepted and received that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, came in the flesh, died on the cross to pay for all the sins of everyone, and now sits on the right hand of the Father in heaven – if you do not accept these facts and receive Jesus into your heart and life, don’t blame me and don’t blame God. I am free from being blamed because I have told you the truth. I just gave you the answer to your problems.
God sent me through this writing to tell you that His Son Jesus Christ is an option for you. You can escape eternal hell and torment. God is free from blame if you reject and refuse to receive salvation through Jesus Christ.
It is your choice! If you get left out of heaven and the peace, mercy, and love of God – don’t blame God. Choose now!
Forgiveness is Defeat for Satan
by Linda Sedrick Pearson
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
When we forgive others, we are keeping Satan from getting an advantage over us. It keeps him from defrauding us, tricking us, and taking power over us. We take away all gain away from Satan when we forgive others.
Another important aspect of forgiveness is that whenever we forgive, God forgives us also. Sometimes before we forgive someone we may say bad things about the individual who harmed us. Or we may do acts against that person. These are giving Satan a foothold on us. It opens doors for Satan to enter in and gain advantage over us. He will irritate us with things about the other person and will keep us dwelling on hurts or perceived hurts. You have to let these things go and truly forgive any person that has hurt you or that you think has hurt you.
Forgiveness is a defeat for Satan because he no longer has access to us through that doorway. Put up your shield of faith, go to the person and tell him or her you forgive them (if that is possible) or in your heart do the forgiveness. Then do NOT let Satan hit you with darts of hurt about that person. Let it go – bury it – and walk away from it. Rebuke Satan when he tries to accuse you of unforgiveness or guilt. You do have power and authority in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to forgive someone and then walk away and rebuke Satan when he tries to bring it all back to your remembrance! Stand up in the power and authority that God has given you. Defeat Satan! Forgive!
Beautiful Feet of Evangelism
by Linda Sedrick Pearson
Evangelism is the “active calling of people to respond to the message of grace and commit to God through Jesus Christ.” Now, isn’t that simple?
Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
I never really thought about my feet being beautiful, but God’s Word says they are when I am doing his work. I need to look at the rest of this verse to see if I am doing the things listed before I can consider my feet beautiful. Do I bring good tidings? Yes, I do every time I post one of these writings or write a Christian book. You see, the message of Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died in the flesh for all of our sins and is now resurrected and seated on the right hand of the father are good tidings. What better greeting can you give someone than the message of salvation? So, point one – check.
The next point is to publish peace. Hmmmm…I needed to think about that one a minute. Do I publish peace? Yes because what better peace can a person have than when he receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. Are all of life’s troubles over? No, but we can have peace knowing that we have accepted and received Jesus. We have peace in our spirits, if we have turmoil in the world. When we accept and receive Jesus Christ, we are no longer worldly, but spiritual. We still have to live in the world, but we are no longer of the world. We are disciples (learners) of God. He gives us an inner peace by providing us with his own Holy Spirit. He comes and lives in us to guide us and give us peace. So, the second point of publishing peace – check.
The third point is to bring good tidings of good. Now, this may sound like the first point and it is to a certain extent. However, the first good tidings is the plan of salvation to those who are lost. The second good tidings adds of good to the phrase. Not only do I bring good tidings, but also good tidings of good. The good news is that we are no longer under the condemnation of the commandment laws. The laws were given to make us aware of sin and our sinful state before we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Now that we have accepted, we are no longer under that condemnation. The good tidings of good that I bring is that you do not have to try to live up to those laws. For me, that brings me peace as well as good tidings of good. No man or woman can live up to all of the laws of Moses. If that were possible, Jesus Christ would not have had to come in the flesh and suffer the torment he went through before and during his time on earth and hanging on the cross. He did all that so we do not have to continue failing to live up to the laws. Now, that is good tidings of good. We are free from the curse of sin. Thank God! Point three – check.
Oh my favorite point – publish salvation. Time and time again I write about salvation. Not only do I write it, but I speak it. You see, publishing it doesn’t just mean in written form. When we speak it out loud that is publishing it also. It puts the word out into the air and the breeze carries it to whomsoever will listen and hear. There is no greater thing I can do or say than to tell you about Jesus Christ, the Son of God – my Savior. Let’s see, publishes salvation – check!
The last point is to say unto Zion, “Thy God reigns!” Before I can check this one off I need to know who is Zion. 2 Samuel 2:7 calls Zion the “city of David.” So does 1 Kings 8:1. Psalm 48:2 calls it the city of the great King. To me, this means Jerusalem. So, I need to say to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Thy God reigns!” I do that often. I love Israel and my heart goes out to them as the world tries to take away from them the land God gave them. But, Israel (especially Jerusalem), I am here to tell you, “Your God reigns! He has not forsaken you and will not leave you without the Comforter and Protector. Grab onto Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah. He is waiting to save you and bring you into his plan of salvation. God bless you and keep you.” The last point has been done over and over – so check and double check!
Now, do you see how beautiful my feet are? They are gorgeous. How beautiful are your feet?
What Do We Need to Do?
by Linda Sedrick Pearson
John 6:28-29 Then said they unto him, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said unto them, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
Jesus was talking to a crowd of people. It was the same crowd that had feasted on the bread and fish when Jesus fed the multitude. Just before these verses, Jesus told them, “You are not looking for me because you want to know me. Instead, you are looking for me because I fed you the bread.” (John 6:26-27). It was after he said that the people asked him what it was they need to do so they could be doing God’s work.
Jesus’ answer was so simple. Believe on Jesus Christ who God the Father sent. How much more simpler could it be? Apparently that was too simple an answer for the people as they continued to question him and wondered what miracles could he perform for them. (Read the rest of John 6 for the complete story.)
Are you questioning and trying to find out what it is you need to be doing for God? Jesus gave you the answer in these verses. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who came in the flesh, died for our sins, was resurrected, and now sits on the right hand of Father God in heaven. God sent him and he came of his own free will. He laid down his life for you. What else do you need to know? There is nothing else you can do. If you do that, then you are working the work of God. Believe to the point that you receive Jesus. This means you accept everything about who he is, what he has done for you, and that he lives today.
What do we need to do so we can work the works of God? Believe Jesus – accept and receive him!
Strength in Christ
by Linda Sedrick Pearson
Philippians 4:12-13 I know how to live when I am poor and when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of how to live through any kind of situation–when I have enough to eat or when I am hungry, when I have everything I need or when I have nothing. Christ is the one who gives me the strength I need to do whatever I must do. (Easy Reader Version)
Paul found the secret for living – Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came in the flesh to die for our sins. There is no other way we will ever be satisfied.
Many people throw themselves into shopping. They keep buying things trying to satisfy that missing piece inside of them. Instead they should be grabbing onto Jesus. He can fill up that boredom and discontent that nags at you all day long. Buying things will only lead to more feelings of lack and misery. It can also lead to bankruptcy. Keep your spending to a minimum and use God’s finances wisely. Everything we have belongs to him. If we realize that and will stop and ask God what he wants us to do, he will fill us up with the right things.
Video games, technology gadgets, automobiles, golf supplies, or……you fill in the blank of what you are using to fill the gaps of your soul. These will lead to nothing but more misery. All these are earthly things that will dissolve away when the earth is destroyed.
Remember, Jesus Christ is the one who can give you the strength to do whatever you need to do. Have you accepted him as your Lord and Savior? If not, what are you waiting for? There is no promise of tomorrow for any of us. We can die in an instant. Stop waiting, stop grabbing earthly things to fill you up. Grab onto Jesus and let him fill you. Then, you will know how to live just as Paul did.
