The Overall View.
 
          Our church had a children’s mission day at our church on a Saturday. We had plenty of help and after I started the event with prayer, I didn’t have a lot of other things to do. I decided to man the security desk. This is something that I never get to do as I am either preaching on Sunday and teaching on Wednesdays. I found this to be fascinating.
          We have a 16-camera high tech security system that gives us audio and video of pretty much every part of our property that covers a city block and a half. I could see events going on in every part of the church as well as monitor the outside of the property. It was amazing watching the 16 cameras and seeing people moving around like an ant colony. I could see the workers leading the children in games, the cooks in the kitchen, the people in every room on both floors of the building. I could watch all of the cars coming and going in the parking lot.
          This experience gave me a glimpse of possibly the way that God is looking down on the Earth. He can see all over the world and watches people doing what they are doing – good and bad. He can see missionaries in Africa spreading the light of Jesus in the darkest places. He can see people every Sunday in churches around the world lifting up praise to Him. Some of the things that He sees bring glory and honor to Him and other things that He sees break His heart.
          A lot of times when I encounter people I will ask them, “Are you being haave (Southern for being good)? Some people will say no and I remind them that Jesus is watching. The Bible suggests that each one of us has a recording angel that is keeping records of all that we do – good and bad – sinful and not. It also tells us that even our secret thoughts are recorded. So instead of Big Brother (The Government) watching you – God is watching you.
          Most everyone that I saw on the 16 monitor screens that Saturday had no idea that I was watching them. I saw people enjoying life and ministering to kids in sharing the love of God. It made my heart glad to see this group of people doing all that could to make this event a success. I know that it pleases the heart of God when we do all that we can even when we don’t know that people are watching.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs 
          

          A friend that is my regular fishing partner and I were on a pond during White Perch (Crappie) season. We had found the fish in a certain part of the pond. There was an old stump sticking out of the water and the fish were around this old stump. The funny thing was that if you threw on the right side of the stump you would immediately get a bite and most of the time catch a nice fish. If you throw on the left side of the stump you may get a bite or you may not. It was a lot slower fishing on that side of the stump.
          My partner was seated in the boat in such a way that it made it easy for him to throw on the right side of the stump and thus catch more fish. Being the good friend/fishing partner that I am, every time that he would catch a fish and leave the spot on the right side of the stump vacated, I would throw it there and catch a fish. That’s just what good friends do. LOL Besides we were in my boat and I could have moved the boat so that I was in a better position but I didn’t.
          This incident reminded me that it is important to be in the right spot if you want to receive the biggest blessings. The “right spot” spiritually is to be, first of all, to be saved and all of your sins confessed and forgiven. There is no better joy and peace than to be forgiven and on the way to Heaven. The Bible describes this as, “The peace of God that passes all understanding to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus”.  
          Another “right spot” to be in spiritually is the center of God’s perfect will for your life. When you walk in obedience to what the Holy Spirit guides you to do you feel a peace and joy that is like any other. But if you are not in obedience to the guidelines that the Bible gives us and the guiding of the Holy Spirit, then it can be a miserable existence. Nothing seems to go right, you feel like you are empty and missing something and there isn’t the Joy of the Lord that you usually feel.
          To use my fishing story as an analogy, when you are saved and in the center of God’s will you are throwing on the right side of the stump. When you are not in the center of God’s will you are throwing on the left side of the stump. There may be success every once in a while, but you know that you are missing out on the greater blessings. You see others getting blessed by being in the right spot and it makes you want some of it.
          My advice is to put your life in the right spot to receive all of the blessings that God has for you. If you are not saved, ask God to save you and put you in the position of now being a Child of God. Trust me when I say that God wants to and can bless His children more than you can imagine. If you are a Christian but you are not in the center of His perfect will for your life, then ask God to help you repent and become obedient to what He is calling you to do. Things go so much better when you are in the right spot – the center of His will.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs

​Leaving The Holy Spirit Behind
 
          My wife and I were going out to eat with some other people at a fish restaurant. When I eat fish, I have to have a glass of sweet tea. Since I am a diabetic one glass of sweet tea will take my blood sugar level from in the 80’s to well over 260 in just a couple of minutes. I found a solution to the problem.
          When we went out to eat with these folks I left my diabetic monitor at the house. I have one of those monitors that works because I have a patch inserted in my arm and it sends my glucose levels to the monitor that I wear on my side. When the level gets too low or too high the monitor will start beeping to let me know that I need to take action. Every time that I drink sweet tea the monitor starts beeping. The easy solution – leave it at home when I go to eat fish and drink sweet tea.
          Do we treat the Holy Spirit that way? When we know that we will be doing something sinful or harmful do we try and leave the Holy Spirit behind so that it won’t convict us of the sin? When I leave my glucose monitor behind and it isn’t beeping then I must be okay. When I try to leave the Holy Spirit behind or I try to ignore His power of conviction then I reason that I must be okay. BOTH of these are wrong and dangerous.
          When I intentionally leave my glucose monitor behind because I don’t want to hear the results then I am endangering my health. I could go into a diabetic coma, have a stroke, and other bad health issues because I chose to not want to hear the warnings. When we try to ignore and avoid the warnings of the Holy Spirit then we put not only our bodies in danger but also our soul if we ignore His conviction long enough.
          God only wants what is best for His children. That is why He sends the Holy Spirit in such roles as the encourager, comforter, guide, and intercessor. But God also sends the Holy Spirit as a voice of conviction upon our heart. He does this in order to help keep us from sin and the dangerous consequences that it brings. So don’t intentionally try to avoid the Holy Spirit’s conviction. It is a deliberate sin that you can’t claim ignorance. You choose to sin despite the warnings and convictions of the Holy Spirit. 
          Instead of leaving my glucose monitor at home I need to make an intentional choice to have water with my fish. It will help me live longer and enjoy a healthier life. We also must be intentional about choosing to obey the Holy Spirit’s conviction and warnings so that we can enjoy a better Spiritual life.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs  

​While trying to make an illustration during my Kingdom Kids moment (Children’s teaching moment) in the sermon, I got a pearl of wisdom from a small child. I had a pencil and an electric pencil sharpener for the illustration. I tried with great effort to sharpen the pencil on my own without the pencil sharpener plugged in. Then I showed them how much easier it was to sharpen the pencil when I plugged in the sharpener. It provided the power to get the job done.
          This was to demonstrate the idea that no matter how hard we try to solve our problems it works much easier when we pray about things and plug into God’s power through prayer. The kids were all getting it so to end the demonstration I did it one more time. I unplugged the sharpener and pushed and twisted every hard to try and sharpen the pencil on my own and then planned to once again to plug it in to show the kids how much easier with the power applied.
          While I was doing the final twisting on the pencil (Without the power on) one little perky 5-year-old girl said these words of wisdom, “If you don’t quit trying to fix it on your own you are going to break it”. And just like that the ah ha moment occurred for me. How many times do I keep on trying to fix a problem on my own rather than turning it over to God through prayer to fix it? How many times do I keep on trying to fix it on my own and wind up breaking it – making it worse instead of trusting God to take care of it?
          This 5-year-old opened my eyes to spiritual depth and insight that I was making it too complex to see. The Bible reminds us that out of the mouths of babies comes strength and wisdom. So many times, we expend so much unnecessary energy, fret, worry, and fear trying to solve a problem that, if we would just pray, God has a simple easy solution? I was trying to demonstrate the power of plugging into the prayer power source and yet I was missing the point – I have to stop trying and start trusting for the power to best be utilized. WOW.
In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs 

          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