Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Today I want to encourage you to be sensitive to the needs of others who are around you.
When you go to church or to work or even spend time with your family and friends, ask the Holy Spirit to help you to recognize when people are carrying a heavy burden all by themselves. Why don’t you go to them, love on them and ask them: How can I pray for you today?
God may use you to bring real relief and freedom into their dilemma by showing them the way out.
1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
I often think of how many church members come to church today burdened by the cares of life created by financial lack, the loss of a job, marital problems, a death in the family, a rebellious child… well, the fact is, the list of potential problems people face today goes on and on.
Have you ever been so burdened by the cares of life that you thought you might be crushed by the weight of it all?
I know I have! Then I realized that the burden was not from the Lord (Matthew 11:28-30).
Perhaps you can remember times when you cried out to God - or maybe right now - you are under a heavy burden and you are asking God to please send someone to help you with these things.
It saddens me to think of the vast number of churchgoers who come into their church services feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders hoping that someone would help them or pray with them, but it seems like everyone is so occupied with their own problems that no one stops to ask how they are doing.
The people frequently leave a service as burdened as they were when they first walked through the church doors.
That is why the Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians Paul tells us of the terrible problems he and his disciples experienced in Asia. He says that these difficulties were of such a stressful nature that they felt as if they were pressed out of measure.
The word burden refers to either a physical or a spiritual problem.
The point Paul is making here is that when a fellow believer is under a crushing burden, it is our Christian responsibility to help bear his burden and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 can be expressed as follows: When someone is burdened by crushing cares and difficult events in life (physical and spiritual) that are too much for one person to carry all by himself, get under that load-burden and help that person carry it and so fulfill the law of Christ.
As brothers and sisters in the Lord, we need to get involved deeper into people’s lives in order to encourage and refresh them spiritually and to help them get through their problems. When we work together as a body in this way, every need will be addressed and met!
Do you know of individuals that you should check on today and help them get through their problems?
Your Servant in Christ,
Dr. Bill Basansky
08-26-10
Keep American Patriotism Alive! (part 3)
Today is Primary Election Day in the State of Florida and our privilege and opportunity to elect honest, trustworthy people to public offices.
1 Corinthians 10:3 You are God’s workmanship designed by God for good works.
Genesis 18:22-26 Abraham asked God if He would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there were 50 righteous people there, and God said, “NO!”
What can I do?
Colossians 3:1 Seek those things which are above…
Matthew 6:33 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God…
How do we select candidates for public office?
Exodus 18:16-21 The Word of God gives us basic qualifications for selecting good candidates. They must be men or women:
Of integrity
Of truth and honesty
Of spiritual and moral maturity
Of Biblical guidance
Of justice
Who are industrious
Who demonstrate capability
Remember: The candidates’ principles are more important than his party affiliation.
As Christian Americans our duties and responsibilities are:
To pray for all men in authority that God’s will be done (1 Timothy 2:1-3)
To honor all authorities (Romans 13:1-7)
To register to vote
To become informed
To help elect godly people to public office
To vote
Proverbs 29:2 When godly people are in authority the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule the people mourn.
Proverbs 29:12 If a ruler listens to lies, all his servants are wicked.
Proverbs 11:11 Godly citizens cause the city, state and nation to prosper
Proverbs 14:34 Godliness exalts the nation
Psalm 125:3 The wicked shall not rule over the righteous lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
1 Peter 4:17 Judgment must begin in the house of God
Your Servant in Christ,
Dr. Bill Basansky
08-16-10
Keep American Patriotism Alive! (part 2)
There are many people, religions and groups in the world today, including many in America, who write or re-write history and tell us that our Founding Fathers were not Christians and that those brave men did not refer to or mention GOD or Christianity in their writing or speeches.
Many politicians, even our President, have said that we – America – are not a Christian nation.
Others have said the Holocaust never happened, that 6.5 million Jews did not die at the hands of the Nazis, and that the Communists did not kill 65 million people.
These people make statements like these because they have no SACRED HONOR.They have no love or respect for the Lord Jesus Christ.They are liars and liars are not honorable.
In fact the Bible says that all liars are going to the lake of fire – to Hell.
The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence knew something of sacred honor when they said:
… and for support of this declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
Our Founding Fathers knew something of sacred honor.
They paid this debt with blood, with family, with finances, and with their own lives.
Even at these horrific prices, they did keep their pledge and did not discard their sacred honor and they created the great United States of America, under God, which is still standing today.
I would love to have men of that caliber standing with me in a fight to keep America’s patriotism alive.These were men of sacred honor who founded our Christian nation and molded its Constitution on the Word and laws of God.
The church needs this kind of men and women today.
The church needs pastors who are more afraid of God than they are of the congregation or the IRS.
We need people who uphold the Word of God and maintain their authority and sacred honor.
2 Chronicles 7:1-5 and 10-16 This promise was given to Solomon and Israel on the 23rd day of the 7th month by Ezra B.C.
verse 14: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
A CNN survey reported that 1 out of 4 Americans do not know why we celebrate the 4th of July and what happened on July 4th 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed.
Psalm 11:3 If the foundation be destroyed, what would the righteous do?
Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he has chosen for his inheritance
Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule the people mourn.
Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 11:5 The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
Ephesians 4:1 …walk worthy of your vocation wherewith you are called…
1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin in the house of God and if it first begin at us…
You might say: BUT I AM JUST ONE PERSON!
The power of one person (Jonah) saved the city of Nineva.
Are you willing to do your part?
Your Servant in Christ,
Dr. Bill Basansky
PS Don’t forget to TAKE THE TRASH OUT on November 2nd!AND pray for our President according to the Scriptures:
Psalm 109:8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
2 Timothy 4:14(May) the Lord reward him according to his works.
08-09-10
Keep American Patriotism Alive! (part 1)
There are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and even those who are native born Americans need to understand.
As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture, called the “American Way” has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
Our forefathers fought, bled and died at places like Bunker Hill, San Juan Hill, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In America we speak English, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian or any other language. You are free to speak any language you’d like, but if you’d like to be a part of our culture, learn the language – English!
“In God We Trust” is our national motto. This is not some off-the-wall, Christian, right-wing political slogan. It is our national motto. It is engraved in stone in the House of Representatives chamber in the Capitol and it is printed on our currency. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation and this fact is clearly documented throughout our history.
If it is appropriate for our motto to be inscribed in the halls of our highest level of government, then it is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools.
GOD is in our pledge, our National anthem, nearly every patriotic song and in our founding documents. We honor the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus as holidays, and we turn to Him in prayer in times of peace and in crisis.
If GOD offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home because GOD is part of our culture and we are proud to have him.
We are proud of our heritage and those who have so honorably defended our freedoms. We celebrate Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day and Flag Day. We have parades, picnics and barbecues where we proudly wave our flag.
As an American, I have the right to wave my flag, sing my national anthem, quote my national motto, and cite my pledge whenever and wherever I choose.
If the Stars and Stripes offend you or you don’t like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.
The American culture is our way of life, our heritage, and we are proud of it.
We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don’t care how you did things where you came from. Like it or not, this is our country, our land and our lifestyle.
Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion about our government, our culture and our society. We will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto (In God We Trust) and our way of life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great American freedom: THE RIGHT TO LEAVE!
Another thing: to Those who do complain about the use of words like GOD and AMERICAN and speaking the language of our great nation, TRY GOING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND SPEAK AGAINST WHAT YOU DO NOT LIKE THERE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. YOU WILL MORE THAN LIKELY END UP JAILED, OR WORSE, KILLED.
In America you take your right to complain for granted.
The more patriotism that is removed from where our children are taught, the less our children will learn about what it is to be an American and our nation’s spirit will slowly be killed.
Well, I have more to say on this subject… so I will continue this message next week. I am NOT endorsing any particular candidate. My purpose is to stir the church to action before it is too late for our great country.
Your Servant in Christ,
Dr. Bill Basansky
My autobiography Escape From Terror, detailing my life in the former Soviet Union, our family's confinement to Nazi concentration camps during WW II, and our new life in our new home, America, is available at The Word Works! Bookstore.
