“CHARGE IT”

Good morning friends. I am thankful for another opportunity to come to you with what God has laid on my heart to share with you. It is an honor to be allowed to speak with you each week and I am humbled that you would take the time out of your busy schedule to read these.


This weeks topic is “Charge It”. All around us we see people, businesses, governments and countries struggling financially. People who are not making what they did, for whatever reason, are resulting to loans and credit cards to live on. Unfortunately, people have put God in the same category as credit. God is only important when we need something. Here are a few scriptures on the subject.


Proverbs 1:24-31 says, “24 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, 25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, 27 When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. 28 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord, 30 They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke. 31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies.” Psalms 66:18 says, “18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.” Isaiah 1:15 says, “15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood”.

God loves us and wants to give us our heart’s desires. BUT, He is not there to be used for just when we need something. We have become so dependant on self, machines, medicines, fortune tellers, horoscopes, good luck charms, magnetic shoe inserts, power bracelets and every other kind of craziness, that we have left out or forgot about God. The Bible tells us that all good things come form God.

The point I am trying to make is, God’s word tells us that He is there for those that hear and obey His word. You must have a relationship with Him and be trying to do your best to live for Him. If you are a friend of the world, living it up, drinking, cussing, drugging, lying, cheating others and all other kinds of sin, through the week and try to put on a “good” face for Sunday, you are wasting your time. The Bible tells us in the scripture above, that if you do all the kinds of sins mentioned and not mentioned, and then when trouble comes your way and you call on God for help, the Bible says, God “will laugh at your calamity”.
To experience victory, and have the best this life has to offer, you must have God in your heart and allow Him to have rule over your life. It cannot be a “part-time” effort. You cannot live a life where you have the reins during the good times and leave God out and when trouble comes along, then all of the sudden you want God to pull you out of another hole.

God is always waiting and listening for that prayer of forgiveness and repentance from a lost sinner. But there is no such thing as an “American Express God Card”. You cannot “charge it” and promise to do a good deed later if He will do something for you right now. You have been bought and paid for and accepted God as owner, or you have chose to continue to live a life of sin. He is either your Savior and Lord or not. He is not a credit bank to be abused and used in times of need and then forgotten the rest of the time.

Remember: The next time you want God to “do” for you, what He has already done for you. Then ask yourself, is He my Father or another overdrawn account.

Until next time, please continue to pray for each other, and me, as I continue to pray for each of you.

Love in CHRIST,

Brian Hanvey
Associate Pastor
Bethel Baptist Church