My wife and I took a couponing class many years ago and learned of a clever marketing tool called BOGO – Buy One Get One Free or Buy One Get One At A Discounted Price. It is a successful marketing idea to move as much merchandise as possible. We have taken advantage of BOGO many times when shopping. It is very helpful in saving money.
          One area where BOGO doesn’t work is in salvation. Just because I get saved it doesn’t mean that my child can come to Heaven with me as my “free” salvation partner. Each one must be accountable for our own salvation. Just because your grandma is a great Christian lady you can’t go to Heaven on her faith. She can “share” her faith with you by telling you about Jesus and His plan of salvation. But you have to choose to receive that salvation on your own. No one goes to Heaven on someone else’s faith.
          Another problem with the BOGO idea is when it comes to salvation is who paid for it. When I go to the store and buy an item and they give me another one for free then that is how BOGO works. I paid for one and got the other one for free. When it comes to salvation I can’t do anything on my own to pay for my salvation. I can’t give my salvation to someone else as a bonus. Jesus is the ONLY one who was qualified to pay the price for Salvation and He willingly did it for whosoever will receive it.
          Sometimes BOGO is used to buy one and get another one at a discounted price. When Jesus went to the cross to pay for our sins, He paid the FULL PRICE. He gave His life, His blood, His dignity, His pride, every aspect of Himself to pay the price IN FULL for our sins. No discounted salvation. We cheapen His sacrifice for our sins by watering it down or disgracing it by keeping on sinning after we have accepted His gift of salvation.
          You can’t give anyone else the gift of salvation but you can tell them of the one who paid the price for their sins so that they can go to Heaven. Another person is the only thing that you can take to Heaven. By that, I mean that you can’t take gold, silver or any worldly possessions. But you can invest in another person and when they get saved you will be together for all eternity in Heaven.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs
          

A Peaceful Sunday?
 
​          I saw a Facebook meme that said, “I hope that you have a peaceful relaxing Sunday”. This statement kind of hit me wrong. I think that I understand the message behind these words, but it still doesn’t feel right. Let us not forget that Sunday is the Lord’s Day. Not a day to take off and do whatever we want to do. God set aside one day for us to give our top priority to worship Him and be with His people.
          As an old-fashioned preacher, I also don’t feel right about bringing a casual attitude to God’s House. I pray for the Holy Spirit to come into the worship services and “disturb” our casual worship. I pray for the presence of God to be so powerful that it convicts lost people of their sin and makes them very uncomfortable and unrelaxed until they seek God for forgiveness and relief. When Jesus comes into your heart it will rock your world, and you can’t stay the same.
          I pray for the Holy Spirit to come and “disturb” the casual Christian that is just coasting along and doing the least that they can for the Kingdom. I pray for the Holy Spirit to challenge their casualness and wake them up to the need to stop sitting on their blessed assurance. I pray that the Holy Spirit will energize them to prioritize their best efforts for Jesus and His Kingdom.
          Many Christians hang out their “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door of their heart and then wonder why they never experience spiritual power or things. You can’t treat the Holy Spirit like a nuisance or make Him feel unwanted and expect Him to bless you. Intentionally seek Him and remove anything that is causing a distraction from His presence in your life. Blessings await when He has FIRST place in your heart, mind, and spirit. Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
          I pray for the Church (Body of Christ) to stop being casual and relaxed about sin both in the church and in the world around them. When Jesus came to Earth He shook up the religious system and told them to repent. He made them very uncomfortable and challenged them to get back to Him. He would have us do the same today. The church has become so “seeker friendly” that we have lost the presence, power, and provision that being Jesus centered will provide.
          I enjoy a peaceful, relaxing Sunday afternoon including a nap. But this is after I have been to God’s House, on God’s Day, worshipping God’s Son with God’s people and experiencing God’s power.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs

My precious wife is trying to help me with a fault that I have -impatience. We can be riding down the road and we get behind a slow poke, (I mean speed challenged driver), and as I am fuming trying to find an opening to pass this person, she will quietly say, “Everyone has a story”. I think that she means that everyone has a reason why they are going so slow. And if I knew their story of why they are going so slow I would be more patient with them.
          I usually have something smart aleck remark like “they must be writing that story down in a book while trying to drive and it is making them poke along (I mean be speed challenged)”. I even tell her that statistics show that more accidents are caused by slow drivers than people who are going the speed limit or above. I don’t say that it is probably because of impatient guys like me trying to get around the speed challenged people.
          I was using this expression (Everyone has a story) one night in a LIFE group talking about how to try and understand people. A young man sitting next to me leaned over and said; “Everybody has a story but only Christians have a testimony”. WOW! This was coming from a young man who has had a lot of bad things happen to him. Yet instead of wanting to tell his story, he wanted to share his testimony of how God has brought him through these things.
          He is 100% right. Everyone has a story of things that have happened to us. But only a Christian can turn that story into a testimony of the goodness of God. We can stay “stuck” on the past and how we were done wrong or how some limitation is making us go through life slowly. Or we can turn that story into a testimony of how God has provided in every way and brought victory out of something that the Devil meant for defeat.
          The “story” is selfishly all about me and my troubles and woes. The “testimony” is all about God and what he has done for me. The “story” brings attention and pity to me. The “testimony” brings glory to God and shifts our focus off of our trouble and onto Him as our provider.
           I have heard people give a “storymony”. In sharing their “testimony” they spend 20 minutes talking about how sinful and horrible they were, including all the nasty details. Then they will give a 30 second, “But praise God, He saved me from all of that”.  I call that a “storymony” because it is all about the person with all of the focus on how much sin had ruined their life. Little glory is given to God.
          I would rather hear someone testify something like, “I was a dirty rotten sinner and I am not going to give Satan an honor by talking about all of those bad things that God has forgiven and forgotten. Instead, I am going to share the glorious things that God has done in my life SINCE I gave it to Him.” Now in that testimony, God gets all of the glory and we tell of His goodness. We focus on the positive difference that He has made in our life instead of giving the Devil attention for our life B.C. (Before Christ)
       Give me a great testimony over a “storymony” anytime. Let God be glorified and my wretched sinful story be buried in God’s Sea of forgetfulness.
​In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs

Broken People
 
          Twice in one day recently I heard two different people say that they had tried to “fix” someone else who was broken, and it had not worked. My mind began to whirl as I thought about how many times and ways that I had tried to fix broken people. Also, I know that there have been times when others have tried to fix me. There are several problems with trying to fix other people.
          First, we are not always able to understand how or why a person has gotten broken. All we see is the broken person but not the cause. Sometimes we think that the cause is an addiction, selfishness, arrogance, anger, family situations or many other factors. These things may in fact just be symptoms of the broken person who has much deeper causes for their broken condition.  So many times, we want the symptoms to go away so that the person will be fixed. But it usually never will go away until the deeper root cause is dealt with.
          Also, we try to fix the person when in many cases they do not want to be fixed. WE and most everyone else want them to be fixed but they don’t see the need. For example, in the case of a person who is broken because of an addiction, they may actually enjoy the very thing that is causing them to be broken. Until they see the problems that being broken are causing and a need to be fixed they will usually remain in the broken condition – no matter how hard we try and fix them.
          Lastly, we try to fix broken people but many times we use the wrong “tools.” We use criticism, anger, threats, physical and emotional attacks, withdrawal from the person, and the list goes on. These usually are not effective and cause the broken person to feel even more broken and thus resort back to the very thing that is causing them to be broken.
          One of the greatest tools that we can use is love. I am not talking about our being abused or hurt and just acting like it never happened. No, I am talking about showing them the love of Christ. His love is more powerful than anything you can say or do in your own flesh to try and fix the broken person.
          Another great thing that we can do is to turn the person over to the Lord and pray for them. All that we can do through our efforts is to condemn the broken person. God, through the Holy Spirit, can convict the broken person and help them see their need to be fixed (healed and set free). HE can do a whole lot more than we can think or imagine. But sometimes we must get out of His way in order for Him to work the best.
I am so thankful that God specializes in not just fixing broken things but that He does more than that. The Bible says that, “He makes us a new creation.” New is way better than patched up and mended. So, let Him use you as a tool to help a broken person be made new. – In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs