Gary's Pencil has replaced Glen's Pen... here you will find periodic messages from Pastor Gary in his own words on any subject of his own choosing. These messages can inform, inspire, and perhaps surprise, so they are well worth reading and heeding.
January, 2022
Seeing as how calling this piece Glen’s Pen just probably wouldn’t work I thought maybe Gary’s Pencil might be a good name. I often do things in pencil because I need to change things, reword them or make an outright correction. Math is one of those things that you always do in pencil.
Sermons are no different. Often times it won’t be unusual to see me make a small last minute addition of an illustration or verse that applies real well that comes to me just before I go up to speak. In fact sometimes they come to be while I am up there speaking and Manny looks all over the notes to see where in the world I went!!
Working with a pencil keeps us flexible too. It leaves room for us to be human you might say. One time a young serviceman working in the Pentagon found a Cross Pencil on the hallway floor. He picked it and inspected it then put it in his pocket. He then walked to a room where several Generals were meeting and asked if any of them had lost the pencil. One of them checked and said “Yes, I did but how did you know it was one of us? He asked. The serviceman replied, “The eraser wasn’t used.” That’s a diplomat!
Most of us need to use erasers in our lives and God helps us with those things. First of all God erases our sin and removes it “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us Psalm 103:12 .. His eraser is a lot better than the little pink ones on the end of a pencil. All blots, stains and smears are removed completely, not just smeared around. When we do sin God gives us the Christians bar of soap to removed it. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Because He erases our sin from us He removes us from the Penalty of sin. If there is no sin to be charged to us then there is no penalty. Romans 8:33 “Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies.” We have a great attorney before the Father! Our life’s story changed when we accepted Him as our Savior and the whole rest of the story of our lives has changed. Every remaining chapter of the book of our lives the way we were going got torn out and thrown away and new chapters written with an amazing ending that only God could give.
Because God erases the sin from our lives and has rewritten the rest of our lives, He also erases from us the power that sin had over us. In God’s strength we are stronger than sin, but only in God’s strength. That’s why we read His Word, that’s why we pray, and that’s why we obey.
Ultimately, God is going to remove us forever from the presence of sin in Heaven. When we get there there will be no more sin externally or internally for eternity. We can’t even begin to imagine how wonderful it will be to have the sin nature erased from us forever. God says in Revelation 21:5 “And he that sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’”
So next time you use your eraser on your pencil, say a little prayer to God and thank Him for His eraser in your life too.
Sermons are no different. Often times it won’t be unusual to see me make a small last minute addition of an illustration or verse that applies real well that comes to me just before I go up to speak. In fact sometimes they come to be while I am up there speaking and Manny looks all over the notes to see where in the world I went!!
Working with a pencil keeps us flexible too. It leaves room for us to be human you might say. One time a young serviceman working in the Pentagon found a Cross Pencil on the hallway floor. He picked it and inspected it then put it in his pocket. He then walked to a room where several Generals were meeting and asked if any of them had lost the pencil. One of them checked and said “Yes, I did but how did you know it was one of us? He asked. The serviceman replied, “The eraser wasn’t used.” That’s a diplomat!
Most of us need to use erasers in our lives and God helps us with those things. First of all God erases our sin and removes it “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us Psalm 103:12 .. His eraser is a lot better than the little pink ones on the end of a pencil. All blots, stains and smears are removed completely, not just smeared around. When we do sin God gives us the Christians bar of soap to removed it. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Because He erases our sin from us He removes us from the Penalty of sin. If there is no sin to be charged to us then there is no penalty. Romans 8:33 “Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies.” We have a great attorney before the Father! Our life’s story changed when we accepted Him as our Savior and the whole rest of the story of our lives has changed. Every remaining chapter of the book of our lives the way we were going got torn out and thrown away and new chapters written with an amazing ending that only God could give.
Because God erases the sin from our lives and has rewritten the rest of our lives, He also erases from us the power that sin had over us. In God’s strength we are stronger than sin, but only in God’s strength. That’s why we read His Word, that’s why we pray, and that’s why we obey.
Ultimately, God is going to remove us forever from the presence of sin in Heaven. When we get there there will be no more sin externally or internally for eternity. We can’t even begin to imagine how wonderful it will be to have the sin nature erased from us forever. God says in Revelation 21:5 “And he that sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’”
So next time you use your eraser on your pencil, say a little prayer to God and thank Him for His eraser in your life too.