Archive for Elder Charles Akins

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Looking for Love

by Elder Charles Akins on April 14, 2012 at 12:02 am
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1 Corinthians 13
“1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”

Most people are in search of love today.  Yet, ironically enough, societies have reached an unsurpassed level of selfishness.  Love and sacrifice, or selflessness, must go hand in hand!  It is amazing how so many people do not see that it is their own selfishness which prevents love from finding them, and prevents them from finding love!  Where there is self, love cannot abide, nor flourish.

So the question becomes, “How badly do you wish to be loved and to love someone else?”  Is it more important for you to manipulate, misuse, control, abuse, or take advantage of a person than it is for you to be loved by them?  If so, well then you have the answer as to why you have not found love, or why it never really works out right!  
 
Everything God has for us centers around his love and care for people who mostly ignore him!  Yet he provides, protects, replenishes, and preserves us!  That is true love, for that is sacrifice!  As much as God loves us He gets His heart broken day by day when we stray, or ignore Him.  Yet He remains a caring and giving God; waiting on us to love Him back!

Now ask yourself,” Do I really wish to be loved by someone else?  Am I capable of that same love for them?”  Most importantly, “Do I love God in return?”

Proverbs 18:24 says, “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”   
 
If we desire love we must first be willing to give what it is we desire!

May you find love….

God Bless,

Elder Charles P. Akins

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Reclaimed

by Elder Charles Akins on April 9, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Posted In: Elder Charles Akins

Luke 24:1-7

1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”

Resurrection Sunday was not only the resurrection of Christ Jesus, our Lord. It was also the resurrection of a once perfect relationship we shared, as God’s creation, and lost through sin. So as we thank God for sending his son to die for our sins, and we thank Christ Jesus for dying, so must we thank God for the revival of a relationship once dead. The gulf which separated us from our creator was bridged. No longer must we atone for sin through blood sacrifice. No longer are we separated from God. We now have a close personal relationship available to us all if we confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead!

Praise God for Jesus and his sacrifice, for through him we are saved, redeemed, and reclaimed!!!

Elder Charles Akins

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Achieving Perfect Peace

by Elder Charles Akins on March 25, 2012 at 5:24 pm
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Philippians 4:1-9, Isiah 26:3-4

Most men’s lives are filled with the useless pursuit of carnal pleasures. We search, with the genie in the bottle mentality, for temporal fulfillment of our life that can only be found in God. So how does one achieve that ever elusive, “Perfect Peace”?

Paul reminds the Philippians that our reliance upon God to guide us in all situations, and aspects of life is the beginning ingredient of the recipe for perfect peace.

However, that is not nearly enough. As a child of God our peace comes from knowing we are being obedient as well. We are called to help others, co-operate with fellow yokemen or laborers in the Gospel, live in harmony with others, rejoice in our new life, spread God’s Word, thank God for what we have, appreciate what we have, and to focus on seeing, thinking, believing, and doing good.

Now comes the difficult part, introspection…. If you find yourself struggling to obtain this peace that was indeed promised to us as God’s own you must first begin an inward search.

1) Am I obedient to God desires for my life?
2) Do I know God’s desires for my life?
3) Am I obedient to God’s commands?
4) Am I helping others?
5) Are there areas of unconfessed sin I need to address?
6) Am I grateful for what I have, or complaining of what I have not?

In short, where am I lacking that prevents me from receiving peace. We have an empty feeling because either we are missing something in our lives, or we are not doing what we are meant to do.

Its amazing how much we learn we have been blessed with when we look inwardly. Its even more amazing how we appreciate God’s love when we see how truly imperfect each of us is. When we focus on our faults enough to work on them God is able to reveal his grace, mercy, and love! Knowing how little we deserve makes me appreciate how much I really have!!!

What are you missing, or what have you been called to do? Are you living the life God wants you to live, or just meandering through your life? What’s missing??

May the Peace of our Lord and savior Jesus the Christ be with you.

Elder Charles P. Akins

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Sacrifices 1 Sam 15:1-22

by Elder Charles Akins on March 18, 2012 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Elder Charles Akins

-A practice used as a form of worship
-A practice to establish a relationship of trust w/ God (Training)
-A practice used to atone for sin

Sacrifices represent: Sins, Worries, Cares, Short comings, Finances, Relationships, Our Fleshly desires.

God demands that we trust in him for all things. Sacrificial offerings are a practice instituted to teach man to bring all things to God in prayer with trust and thanksgiving, as well as to atone for sinful living. God’s desire is that we learn to part with physical things, and should make that same connection to all things. We must offer up all things to God for his direction (i.e. spiritual, emotional, social, financial, etc.). Offerings are a form of training to help us develop the right trust relationship with God. Struggling to relinquish finances is just a flag for other things we will not give God control over. When we can learn to trust him with our finances we can learn to trust him with our lives.

Saul was given the command to “Utterly destroy” the Amalekites for the evil they had done to the Children of Israel. Therefore man and woman, child and infant, livestock, all was to be destroyed. Everything that belonged to this people was to be destroyed, and nothing was to remain. Saul kept King Agag as a captive, and spared the best of all they had. He then staged a sacrifice on Mount Carmel.

In other words, sacrificial offerings are training in trusting God for all things! Yet they are not a substitution for obeying God! God has no need for the little we offer him. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein” (Ps24:1) so we all belong to God, and are thus under his rule. He can do with all whatever he chooses to do. He establishes relationships with his people as they learn to yield their person to him. The relationship becomes more committed as we learn to give fleshly desires up in order to grow closer to him. We only do this by learning to offer everything up to him first.

Therefore, as I learn to sacrifice my income to God it becomes easier to let him have control. As I trust God to control my finances I lean on him to control other things. I become closer to him as I learn to trust in him for all aspects of my life. I then turn to him with my shortcomings, desiring to be obedient, as I grow closer to him. My will starts to transform into God’s Will as I seek to obey him. Because I wish to obey him I then turn my fleshly desires over to him also. Eventually my relationship turns from one of commanded obedience to one of desired obedience. With desired obedience we learn to submit to God totally and will automatically sacrifice as a result of our relationship of love and trust with God.

Thing to remember: The financial sacrifice is symbolic of total submission, it is not a substitution for obedience to God. It is similar to giving a child an allowance to teach them the responsibility of earning income, and paying their expenses. God trains us to relinquish all cares, weights, and matters of our flesh by challenging us to give resources. It is at this point when we start to say: God I obey you because I love you, not because I fear you!!!! True love brings about obedience and trust, as well as sacrifice!!!

May your sacrifices be many, your obedience be desired, and your worries be few!

Elder Charles P. Akins

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