Part III in a 3 part series on Stewardship
In the final part in our series we are going to look at relationships. The way you relate to other people will show your heart for Christ. You could attend church faithfully and give more than your regular tithe but if you don’t honor Christ in your relationships people will see straight through you.
In Colossians 3:18-15 Paul gives us a detailed account as to how we can honor Christ in our relationships with our spouses, family and co-workers.
Colossians 3:18-25
18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
Honoring God in your marriage relationship
Colossians 3:18 – We see the duty of wives. This is not an excuse for husbands to abuse their wives and it is not putting women below men in the marriage relationship. Nowhere does it say that a wife is to obey her husband. Children are to obey in verse 20 and slaves are to obey in verse 22, but wives are to submit. There’s a difference.
This is a charge to wives to allow their husbands to take the spiritual leadership role in the family. Some men fail to become spiritual leaders in their homes because they are lazy. Some fail because their wives don’t allow them.
Do you and your spouse feed each other a steady diet of put-downs? If you do, your marriage could be headed for divorce court.
When psychologists Cliff Nortarius and Howard Markman studied newlyweds over the first decade of marriage, they discovered that couples who stayed together uttered 5 or fewer put-downs in every 100 comments to each other. But couples who inflicted twice as many verbal wounds -- 10 or more putdowns out of every 100 comments -- later split up.
Watch what you say! Little, nit-picking comments are like a cancer in marriage, slowly draining the life out of a committed relationship.
Ephesians 5:21 tells us that both husbands and wives are to submit to the Lord and to each other.
Colossians 3:19 shows us the duty of husbands.
The above illustration shows what can happen when harsh words are spoken in the home and many husbands will say that they love their wives but they don’t fully understand the biblical definition of love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
A few years ago, the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, MO made public 1,300 recently discovered letters that the late President wrote to his wife, Bess, over the course of a half-century. Mr. Truman had a lifelong rule of writing to his wife every day they were apart. He followed this rule whenever he was away on official business or whenever Bess left Washington to visit her beloved Independence.
Scholars are examining the letters for any new light they may throw on political and diplomatic history. For our part, we were most impressed by the simple fact that every day he was away, the President of the United States took time out from his dealing with the world's most powerful leaders to sit down and write a letter to his wife.
What better example is there of a man who showed love for his wife?
Honoring God in your family
Colossians 3:20-21
Ray Stedman lists three things that fathers do that can lead a child to discouragement. I’ve added a fourth.
Ignore them. A father who has no time for his children soon creates within them a deep-seated resentment. Children in these homes can grow up to feel unloved and unaccepted and may end up looking elsewhere to have their needs met.
Indulge them. These types of fathers give their children everything they want. This is not good because a child who is indulged all the time can become restless, dissatisfied, and spoiled.
Insult them. Some dads like to criticize their kids and even call them names. Sarcasm and ridicule can knock the stuffing out of a child faster than anything else.
Paul goes on to clarify his charge to parents in Ephesians 6:4.
4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Honoring God at work
Finally, in Colossians 3:22-25 Paul gives us three ways to honor Christ in our relationships at work.
1. Do your best at your job at all times.
2. Worship at your work.
3. Recognize Jesus as your boss.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Panama Bound
I'm leaving Friday morning for Panama City, Panama. I'll be doing some inner-city ministry work there as well as making preperations for a group trip that our church is taking in March.
I’ll be journaling each day and will post the journal entries here at Abundant Living when I return.
I would appreciate any prayers from my readers for safety, effectiveness and for my family while I’m gone.
Thanks!
I’ll be journaling each day and will post the journal entries here at Abundant Living when I return.
I would appreciate any prayers from my readers for safety, effectiveness and for my family while I’m gone.
Thanks!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Stewardship Part II
Being a Steward of Our Resources
Part II of a three part series on stewardship
When we look at being a good steward of our resources we are talking about becoming better managers of three areas of our lives. Those areas are our Jobs, our finances and our possessions.
Remember, the Christians perspective is that everything belongs to God and He has entrusted us to me managers of the tings that we have.
When was the last time you viewed your job as something that God possessed and trusts you to take care of? Our jobs provide us with three opportunities.
First, our jobs provide us the opportunity to be an example that imitates God. When we first are introduced to God in the Bible he is working. Genesis chapter one records the creation and we see in that account that God worked six days straight. He was diligent in every detail and because of that man had everything that he needed. There was no work until after man sinned. Then we read in Genesis 3:17-19 that because of his sin man would now have to work for everything he had both for survival and pleasure.
Genesis 3:17-19
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."
We have to work! It’s a part of life. God has given us our jobs as a means of provision and survival. We should view our jobs as an opportunity to work just a diligently and hard as God did.
The second opportunity our jobs provide us is a test that develops Character. I once heard a pastor say that when it comes to our career, most of us have our dream job and then we have our real job.
If it was easy it wouldn’t be called work. If it was given to us then we wouldn’t call it earning a paycheck. No doubt all of us have had one of those days at work where we didn’t ever want to go back because things were so stressful and hectic. Look at what James says about those trials.
James 1:2-4
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Every time your job gets tense or stressful that is your opportunity to develop your Christian character.
Finally our jobs provide us an opportunity to enhance our dignity.
Ecclesiastes 3:13
13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.
We should take pride in the fact that we get to work for a living. It gives us something to be proud of. Our homes, vehicles and possessions are all things that we have earned. That gives us dignity.
A small church needed to have a new roof in the worst of ways, but there was no money in their account. Most of the congregation was very poor except for the local banker. He was an ornery old cuss, and he would be the first in church so he could always sit in the back pew by the door. That way, he could always get up and leave during prayer right before the offering was collected.
One day, on the way to church, an accident in front of him made him late. When he got there, the only place to sit was on the front pew in front of the pastor.
As the pastor prayed for God to send them money for the roof, a piece broke off and fell down, hitting the banker on the head. He immediately yelled out, "I’ll give $1,000. for the roof!" And one of the men in back yelled out, "Hit him again, Lord!"
Like everything else our finances belong to God. He has given us all and only asks for a tiny amount back. Imagine walking down the street in Seattle and you come across Bill Gates. He greets you and tells you that he is going to trust you with his fortune. All you have to do is give him back ten percent. Which one of us wouldn’t do that? You get to keep 90% of his money to do with as you please. Why would you walk away from that deal?
That is what God is saying to you and me. He provides us with everything we have and only ask us to give him ten percent back. Here is a passage from the book of Malachi where God explains the concept of tithing.
Malachi 3:6-10
6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Do you have enough faith in God to trust Him in that promise? You faith, or lack of, is shown every Sunday when the offering plate is passed.
When it comes to our possessions James gives us an interesting perspective.
James 1:9-11
9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
A Christian understanding of possessions changes our view of people. We see people through the eyes of God and understand our equality. We are all limited by time on the earth and we will not be judged by what we have rather than what we do.
It’s fine to have nice things. I don’t believe that is wrong at all. It is when we place our value in those things instead of in God that is wrong.
A Christian understanding of possessions changes our view of possessions. Do you remember the old bumper sticker that said, “He who dies with the most toys wins”? I like the one that followed it that said, “He who dies with the most toys still dies.” The truth is that those things that we posses are material and have no impact on eternity. We cannot take them with us and they don’t help us in get anywhere after our lives end.
Being a good steward of our possessions means understanding them and the people who own them.
I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. – Martin Luther
Part II of a three part series on stewardship
When we look at being a good steward of our resources we are talking about becoming better managers of three areas of our lives. Those areas are our Jobs, our finances and our possessions.
Remember, the Christians perspective is that everything belongs to God and He has entrusted us to me managers of the tings that we have.
When was the last time you viewed your job as something that God possessed and trusts you to take care of? Our jobs provide us with three opportunities.
First, our jobs provide us the opportunity to be an example that imitates God. When we first are introduced to God in the Bible he is working. Genesis chapter one records the creation and we see in that account that God worked six days straight. He was diligent in every detail and because of that man had everything that he needed. There was no work until after man sinned. Then we read in Genesis 3:17-19 that because of his sin man would now have to work for everything he had both for survival and pleasure.
Genesis 3:17-19
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."
We have to work! It’s a part of life. God has given us our jobs as a means of provision and survival. We should view our jobs as an opportunity to work just a diligently and hard as God did.
The second opportunity our jobs provide us is a test that develops Character. I once heard a pastor say that when it comes to our career, most of us have our dream job and then we have our real job.
If it was easy it wouldn’t be called work. If it was given to us then we wouldn’t call it earning a paycheck. No doubt all of us have had one of those days at work where we didn’t ever want to go back because things were so stressful and hectic. Look at what James says about those trials.
James 1:2-4
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Every time your job gets tense or stressful that is your opportunity to develop your Christian character.
Finally our jobs provide us an opportunity to enhance our dignity.
Ecclesiastes 3:13
13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.
We should take pride in the fact that we get to work for a living. It gives us something to be proud of. Our homes, vehicles and possessions are all things that we have earned. That gives us dignity.
A small church needed to have a new roof in the worst of ways, but there was no money in their account. Most of the congregation was very poor except for the local banker. He was an ornery old cuss, and he would be the first in church so he could always sit in the back pew by the door. That way, he could always get up and leave during prayer right before the offering was collected.
One day, on the way to church, an accident in front of him made him late. When he got there, the only place to sit was on the front pew in front of the pastor.
As the pastor prayed for God to send them money for the roof, a piece broke off and fell down, hitting the banker on the head. He immediately yelled out, "I’ll give $1,000. for the roof!" And one of the men in back yelled out, "Hit him again, Lord!"
Like everything else our finances belong to God. He has given us all and only asks for a tiny amount back. Imagine walking down the street in Seattle and you come across Bill Gates. He greets you and tells you that he is going to trust you with his fortune. All you have to do is give him back ten percent. Which one of us wouldn’t do that? You get to keep 90% of his money to do with as you please. Why would you walk away from that deal?
That is what God is saying to you and me. He provides us with everything we have and only ask us to give him ten percent back. Here is a passage from the book of Malachi where God explains the concept of tithing.
Malachi 3:6-10
6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Do you have enough faith in God to trust Him in that promise? You faith, or lack of, is shown every Sunday when the offering plate is passed.
When it comes to our possessions James gives us an interesting perspective.
James 1:9-11
9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
A Christian understanding of possessions changes our view of people. We see people through the eyes of God and understand our equality. We are all limited by time on the earth and we will not be judged by what we have rather than what we do.
It’s fine to have nice things. I don’t believe that is wrong at all. It is when we place our value in those things instead of in God that is wrong.
A Christian understanding of possessions changes our view of possessions. Do you remember the old bumper sticker that said, “He who dies with the most toys wins”? I like the one that followed it that said, “He who dies with the most toys still dies.” The truth is that those things that we posses are material and have no impact on eternity. We cannot take them with us and they don’t help us in get anywhere after our lives end.
Being a good steward of our possessions means understanding them and the people who own them.
I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. – Martin Luther
Monday, January 09, 2006
Stewardship Part I
As we came into the New Year I was praying about what I could teach my church that would encourage them as they are becoming the men and women that God desires them to be and ultimately the church that He desires for us to be.
So, what was it that the Lord was leading us to study? Stewardship! By definition a steward is one who manages another’s property, finances, or other affairs.
As Christians we believe, or should believe, that everything we have belongs to God anyway and as we grow in discipleship, learning to become more like Christ, we should learn to be responsible caretakers of all that God has trusted us with.
As a church we are going to spend the next three weeks learning to become better stewards.
If you had a bank that credited your account each morning with $86,000 that carried over no balance from day to day...Allowed you to keep no cash in your account, and every evening cancelled whatever part of the amount you failed to use during the day, what would you do? Draw out every cent every day, of course, and use it to your advantage!
Well, you have such a bank, and its name is TIME! Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it rules off as lost whatever of this you failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balances, it allows no overdrafts. Each day it opens a new account with you. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against tomorrow.
What gets your time? We devote a lot of our time to pursuing things we value. Those things we give our time to become our priorities. Jesus said that if we learn to value and live God’s priorities then the other stuff we need comes as well. (Matthew 6:33)
The key being a steward of your time is knowing God’s priorities!
What Are God’s Priorities?
1. Loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.
2. Loving others as you would yourself.
When we look at the Example of Jesus we see that he made time for God (Matthew 14:23; Luke 2:46-49), he spent time in prayer and in worship. That time alone with the father was valuable time to him and he was not ashamed to be found in God’s presence.
Jesus also made time for other people. He made time to love other people, He made time to reach out to other people, and he made time to serve. Keep in mind that this is God we are talking about. He valued his time as something that was precious and made sure to make every second count.
How would you like to spend 2 years making phone calls to people who aren't home? Sound absurd? According to one time management study, that's how much time the average person spends trying to return calls to people who never seem to be in. Not only that, we spend 6 months waiting for the traffic light to turn green, and another 8 months reading junk mail. These unusual statistics should cause us to do time-use evaluation. Once we recognize that simple "life maintenance" can chip away at our time in such huge blocks, we will see how vital it is that we don't busy ourselves "in vain"
It’s important that we make sure that every thing we do with our time counts. As we become better stewards of our time, let’s learn to live by God’s priorities and not our own.
So, what was it that the Lord was leading us to study? Stewardship! By definition a steward is one who manages another’s property, finances, or other affairs.
As Christians we believe, or should believe, that everything we have belongs to God anyway and as we grow in discipleship, learning to become more like Christ, we should learn to be responsible caretakers of all that God has trusted us with.
As a church we are going to spend the next three weeks learning to become better stewards.
If you had a bank that credited your account each morning with $86,000 that carried over no balance from day to day...Allowed you to keep no cash in your account, and every evening cancelled whatever part of the amount you failed to use during the day, what would you do? Draw out every cent every day, of course, and use it to your advantage!
Well, you have such a bank, and its name is TIME! Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it rules off as lost whatever of this you failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balances, it allows no overdrafts. Each day it opens a new account with you. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against tomorrow.
What gets your time? We devote a lot of our time to pursuing things we value. Those things we give our time to become our priorities. Jesus said that if we learn to value and live God’s priorities then the other stuff we need comes as well. (Matthew 6:33)
The key being a steward of your time is knowing God’s priorities!
What Are God’s Priorities?
1. Loving God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.
2. Loving others as you would yourself.
When we look at the Example of Jesus we see that he made time for God (Matthew 14:23; Luke 2:46-49), he spent time in prayer and in worship. That time alone with the father was valuable time to him and he was not ashamed to be found in God’s presence.
Jesus also made time for other people. He made time to love other people, He made time to reach out to other people, and he made time to serve. Keep in mind that this is God we are talking about. He valued his time as something that was precious and made sure to make every second count.
How would you like to spend 2 years making phone calls to people who aren't home? Sound absurd? According to one time management study, that's how much time the average person spends trying to return calls to people who never seem to be in. Not only that, we spend 6 months waiting for the traffic light to turn green, and another 8 months reading junk mail. These unusual statistics should cause us to do time-use evaluation. Once we recognize that simple "life maintenance" can chip away at our time in such huge blocks, we will see how vital it is that we don't busy ourselves "in vain"
It’s important that we make sure that every thing we do with our time counts. As we become better stewards of our time, let’s learn to live by God’s priorities and not our own.
Monday, December 19, 2005
The Life
Final part in a series on John 14:6
Someone has calculated how a typical lifespan of 70 years is spent. Here is the estimate:
Sleep................23 years...........32.9%
Work.................16 years...........22.8%
TV....................8 years...........11.4%
Eating................6 years............8.6%
Travel................6 years............8.6%
Leisure.............4.5 years............6.5%
Illness...............4 years............5.7%
Dressing..............2 years............2.8%
Religion............0.5 years............0.7%
Total................70 years............100%
We are defined as who we are by what we do. Jesus said that he is the Life in John 14:6, stating that he was the source of life as well as the way to a purposeful and meaningful life. Here are a few things that we have already learned about life.
We already know that Jesus is the way to life. I discussed that two weeks ago in the first part of this series. And we already know that Jesus wants to give us a full life, John 10:10, but what is life?
Now, let’s look at what life is.
Life is short, James 4:14. Think about all the things that we put off in life assuming that we may get to them at another time. Many people put off their relationship with God until they have settled down and are ready.
The problem with that way of thinking is that we are not guaranteed another today. We take tomorrow for granted but there is no guarantee that it will be there.
Living for Christ means living like there is no tomorrow, loving people and doing the right thing today. Understanding God’s love for you and living His desires for your life now, finding your purpose, meaning and value in Him at this very moment. That is understanding that life is short.
Life is sacrifice, Luke 9:24-25. Paul tells us that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice. We allow ourselves to become selfish and indulge in our own desires before we ever think about how our actions affect our relationships with other people and God.
Living in Christ means not being selfish, it means doing the right thing, even if it requires giving up our desires.
Life is Christ, Philippians 1:21. I love this statement from Paul. He really got it! His life was a result of Christ and everything he became was a direct result of his relationship with Him.
Life is Eternal, John 3:16. Many people think that when their life ends on earth then that is all there is. This philosophy couldn’t be more wrong.
The bible is very clear about eternal life. We either spend it with God or separated from Him. The difference is what we do with Jesus, which brings me to the final point.
Life is your Choice, Joshua 24:15. During World War II, Winston Churchill was forced to make a painful choice. The British secret service had broken the Nazi code and informed Churchill that the Germans were going to bomb Coventry. He had two alternatives: (1) evacuate the citizens and save hundreds of lives at the expense of indicating to the Germans that the code was broken; or (2) take no action, which would kill hundreds but keep the information flowing and possibly save many more lives. Churchill had to choose and followed the second course.
Life is full of choices, some easy and some difficult. Joshua is pretty clear when it comes to serving God. It’s a choice you make but you have to live your choice.
Someone has calculated how a typical lifespan of 70 years is spent. Here is the estimate:
Sleep................23 years...........32.9%
Work.................16 years...........22.8%
TV....................8 years...........11.4%
Eating................6 years............8.6%
Travel................6 years............8.6%
Leisure.............4.5 years............6.5%
Illness...............4 years............5.7%
Dressing..............2 years............2.8%
Religion............0.5 years............0.7%
Total................70 years............100%
We are defined as who we are by what we do. Jesus said that he is the Life in John 14:6, stating that he was the source of life as well as the way to a purposeful and meaningful life. Here are a few things that we have already learned about life.
We already know that Jesus is the way to life. I discussed that two weeks ago in the first part of this series. And we already know that Jesus wants to give us a full life, John 10:10, but what is life?
Now, let’s look at what life is.
Life is short, James 4:14. Think about all the things that we put off in life assuming that we may get to them at another time. Many people put off their relationship with God until they have settled down and are ready.
The problem with that way of thinking is that we are not guaranteed another today. We take tomorrow for granted but there is no guarantee that it will be there.
Living for Christ means living like there is no tomorrow, loving people and doing the right thing today. Understanding God’s love for you and living His desires for your life now, finding your purpose, meaning and value in Him at this very moment. That is understanding that life is short.
Life is sacrifice, Luke 9:24-25. Paul tells us that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice. We allow ourselves to become selfish and indulge in our own desires before we ever think about how our actions affect our relationships with other people and God.
Living in Christ means not being selfish, it means doing the right thing, even if it requires giving up our desires.
Life is Christ, Philippians 1:21. I love this statement from Paul. He really got it! His life was a result of Christ and everything he became was a direct result of his relationship with Him.
Life is Eternal, John 3:16. Many people think that when their life ends on earth then that is all there is. This philosophy couldn’t be more wrong.
The bible is very clear about eternal life. We either spend it with God or separated from Him. The difference is what we do with Jesus, which brings me to the final point.
Life is your Choice, Joshua 24:15. During World War II, Winston Churchill was forced to make a painful choice. The British secret service had broken the Nazi code and informed Churchill that the Germans were going to bomb Coventry. He had two alternatives: (1) evacuate the citizens and save hundreds of lives at the expense of indicating to the Germans that the code was broken; or (2) take no action, which would kill hundreds but keep the information flowing and possibly save many more lives. Churchill had to choose and followed the second course.
Life is full of choices, some easy and some difficult. Joshua is pretty clear when it comes to serving God. It’s a choice you make but you have to live your choice.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Biblical Confession
A fellow blogger asked me what my thoughts were on confession of sin and I wanted to reply based on what the bible says about confession and more importantly forgiveness.
The first thing we should look at is sin. A basic definition of sin is anything we do outside the will of God. I shouldn’t need the bible to back me up on this but I’ll use it here just in case. Paul tells in Romans 3:23 that everyone has sinned and come short of what God desires for them. I actually had a conversation with a man a few months ago who actually said that he never sins. If that describes you then this post won’t really help you, but I encourage you to see my previous post on Truth.
The result of the sin in our lives leads us to separation from God. Again going back to what Paul writes in the book of Romans we learn that our sin results in death. This is speaking of spiritual death or eternal separation from God but God does offer the free gift of eternal life in that same verse.
So where does confession come into play here? We need forgiveness from our sins to gain the eternal life that God is offering. In order to begin a relationship with Christ we have to confess. The bible tells us that we believe in Christ and are justified with our hearts but we confess and are saved with our mouths.
Who do we confess to? Some people believe that we must confess our sins to others in order to receive forgiveness. That is not true! The bible does tell us that we should confess our sin to each other and be healed, but that is different than forgiveness. When our sin affects other people then we should go to them and confess and make it right. We should seek their forgiveness as well but God’s forgiveness comes only from God.
The Bible doesn’t teach receiving God’s forgiveness through man it teaches receiving His forgiveness through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. If you and I confess our sin to Him then He will be faithful to us and forgive us of that sin and restore us to righteousness.
How does confession work? You simply admit to God that you have sinned, done something outside of His will, and that you are truly sorry. To be truly sorry means to have a desire to no longer commit this act because you recognize that it is in violation of God’s desire for your life. That is called repentance; it literally means to turn around.
The key to all of this is your relationship to Christ. True confession only works if you have invited Him into your life as Savior. Recognizing Him as Lord of your life is what gives you the desire to repent from your sin.
I hope this helps answer your questions about confession. If I didn’t answer something or there is another question please feel free to e-mail me. My address is in my profile.
The first thing we should look at is sin. A basic definition of sin is anything we do outside the will of God. I shouldn’t need the bible to back me up on this but I’ll use it here just in case. Paul tells in Romans 3:23 that everyone has sinned and come short of what God desires for them. I actually had a conversation with a man a few months ago who actually said that he never sins. If that describes you then this post won’t really help you, but I encourage you to see my previous post on Truth.
The result of the sin in our lives leads us to separation from God. Again going back to what Paul writes in the book of Romans we learn that our sin results in death. This is speaking of spiritual death or eternal separation from God but God does offer the free gift of eternal life in that same verse.
So where does confession come into play here? We need forgiveness from our sins to gain the eternal life that God is offering. In order to begin a relationship with Christ we have to confess. The bible tells us that we believe in Christ and are justified with our hearts but we confess and are saved with our mouths.
Who do we confess to? Some people believe that we must confess our sins to others in order to receive forgiveness. That is not true! The bible does tell us that we should confess our sin to each other and be healed, but that is different than forgiveness. When our sin affects other people then we should go to them and confess and make it right. We should seek their forgiveness as well but God’s forgiveness comes only from God.
The Bible doesn’t teach receiving God’s forgiveness through man it teaches receiving His forgiveness through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. If you and I confess our sin to Him then He will be faithful to us and forgive us of that sin and restore us to righteousness.
How does confession work? You simply admit to God that you have sinned, done something outside of His will, and that you are truly sorry. To be truly sorry means to have a desire to no longer commit this act because you recognize that it is in violation of God’s desire for your life. That is called repentance; it literally means to turn around.
The key to all of this is your relationship to Christ. True confession only works if you have invited Him into your life as Savior. Recognizing Him as Lord of your life is what gives you the desire to repent from your sin.
I hope this helps answer your questions about confession. If I didn’t answer something or there is another question please feel free to e-mail me. My address is in my profile.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Truth
Part 2 in a 3 part series on John 14:6
In his book which provides a statistical analysis of religious beliefs in America, George Barna cites several fascinating statistics which are based on a national survey.
In chapter four he states, "The Devil, or Satan, is not a living being but is a symbol of evil." Then asking that segment of his survey respondents who have identified themselves at being Born Again, he states, "Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with that statement?"
The Born Again population reply with 32 percent agreeing strongly, 11 percent agreeing somewhat and 5 percent did not know. Thus, of the total number responding, 48 percent either agreed that Satan is only symbolic or did not know!
His next question, "Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others all pray to the same God, even though they use different names for that God." Again, the respondents were asked to agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or disagree strongly.
Of that population surveyed who identified themselves as Born Again, 30 percent agreed strongly, 18 percent agreed somewhat and 12 percent did not know. That is a total of 60 percent!
It’s amazing how many people profess to be born again believers and yet they do not know the truth about who Jesus really is and what a relationship with him can actually do in their lives.
Jesus said knowing truth would set us free, but free from what? Free from our sin. Knowing that Jesus is the source of truth and that a relationship with him will open our eyes to the condition of sin in our lives is a scary and sobering to understand. But that is what knowing truth is about.
The truth is that sin does capture and enslave us. That is why we call coming to know Jesus as Lord being saved. The truth is that you and I are powerless over our sin and our only hope to over come it and have redemption is to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
So how do we know this truth? It’s actually pretty simple. We know the truth by knowing and living the word of God. Jesus is the truth and knowing truth means to know Him. In order to know him we must …
• Be honest about who we are. Sometimes we are not the person we say we are and we can even fool ourselves by pretending to be someone we are not. To know truth means to be honest about whom we really are in light of who God desires us to be.
• Be honest about who God is. Is He really Lord of your life or are you playing the God game? Do you serve Him wholeheartedly or do you make a public appearance in His house once a week?
• Be honest about our sin. We can’t hide our sin from God. We can hide it from other people and protect our little secrets but God knows and sees all. We have to be honest about our sin and let God have control.
• Be honest about our desires. Do we really want to serve Him as our Lord? Sometimes we mix the desire for a feel good spiritual moment and the desire to know the Lord. What is your true desire when it comes to God?
• Be honest about your relationship with God. Do you have a growing relationship with Him? Are you really as spiritually solid as you appear to be?
Sometimes the truth can hurt because it means seeing who we really are. We often come up way short when we see ourselves in the light of God’s truth. So the question is; what do we do then? Do we desire to change our lifestyles and habits to become the person that God desires us to be? Or do we continue to feed our selfishness?
In his book which provides a statistical analysis of religious beliefs in America, George Barna cites several fascinating statistics which are based on a national survey.
In chapter four he states, "The Devil, or Satan, is not a living being but is a symbol of evil." Then asking that segment of his survey respondents who have identified themselves at being Born Again, he states, "Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with that statement?"
The Born Again population reply with 32 percent agreeing strongly, 11 percent agreeing somewhat and 5 percent did not know. Thus, of the total number responding, 48 percent either agreed that Satan is only symbolic or did not know!
His next question, "Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others all pray to the same God, even though they use different names for that God." Again, the respondents were asked to agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or disagree strongly.
Of that population surveyed who identified themselves as Born Again, 30 percent agreed strongly, 18 percent agreed somewhat and 12 percent did not know. That is a total of 60 percent!
It’s amazing how many people profess to be born again believers and yet they do not know the truth about who Jesus really is and what a relationship with him can actually do in their lives.
Jesus said knowing truth would set us free, but free from what? Free from our sin. Knowing that Jesus is the source of truth and that a relationship with him will open our eyes to the condition of sin in our lives is a scary and sobering to understand. But that is what knowing truth is about.
The truth is that sin does capture and enslave us. That is why we call coming to know Jesus as Lord being saved. The truth is that you and I are powerless over our sin and our only hope to over come it and have redemption is to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
So how do we know this truth? It’s actually pretty simple. We know the truth by knowing and living the word of God. Jesus is the truth and knowing truth means to know Him. In order to know him we must …
• Be honest about who we are. Sometimes we are not the person we say we are and we can even fool ourselves by pretending to be someone we are not. To know truth means to be honest about whom we really are in light of who God desires us to be.
• Be honest about who God is. Is He really Lord of your life or are you playing the God game? Do you serve Him wholeheartedly or do you make a public appearance in His house once a week?
• Be honest about our sin. We can’t hide our sin from God. We can hide it from other people and protect our little secrets but God knows and sees all. We have to be honest about our sin and let God have control.
• Be honest about our desires. Do we really want to serve Him as our Lord? Sometimes we mix the desire for a feel good spiritual moment and the desire to know the Lord. What is your true desire when it comes to God?
• Be honest about your relationship with God. Do you have a growing relationship with Him? Are you really as spiritually solid as you appear to be?
Sometimes the truth can hurt because it means seeing who we really are. We often come up way short when we see ourselves in the light of God’s truth. So the question is; what do we do then? Do we desire to change our lifestyles and habits to become the person that God desires us to be? Or do we continue to feed our selfishness?
Monday, December 05, 2005
The Way
Paul Harvey tells the story about a family on Christmas Eve. This family had a tradition where the Mother and children would go to the Christmas Eve service, and the Father would stay home and read the paper. When the family returns home from church, they would all gather to open up their presents.
The Father was not an evil man, but he just couldn’t believe in the childhood stories anymore of God coming as a baby in a manger. As the family left for church, he opened up the evening paper and began to read by the fireplace.
Suddenly, he heard tapping on the window. It was a bird flying against the glass of his window trying to get out of the snow into the warmth of his home. The man had compassion on the bird, and he went outside, hoping to bring it in.
As he approached the bird, the bird just flew against the window even harder. Pretty soon, the bird flew into the bushes below the window, half frozen, yet too afraid to be caught by this huge man. The more the man tried to reach for the bird, the more the bird flew frantically into the snow and thorns of the bushes.
After a few minutes in the cold and seeing the bird continue to injure itself, the man yelled out in frustration, "Stupid bird, can’t you understand that I’m trying to help?" The man paused and thought, "If only you understood you wouldn’t fly away ... if only ... if only I could become a bird, and get you to understand."
Just then, the church bells rang, as they always have on the hour. But when the man heard the bells this time, he fell to his knees and began to cry, saying, "Oh, God, I didn’t understand. Oh, God, I didn’t understand."
As we rush into the Holiday Season its important that we acknowledge who Jesus is. People all over the world will celebrate the birth of our Savior without realizing or acknowledging that he is God who became man to help you and I understand completely the depth of God’s love and provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him in heaven.
In John 14:6 Jesus makes an amazing revelation, in response to a question from Thomas, about who he is. By telling Thomas that he was the way, the truth and the life he was telling the world how they can better know Him and the Father.
What is Jesus the way to?
He is the way to fulfillment, John 10:10. He has a plan for our lives that lead us to a full and complete life. Many people live busy lives but guilt and doubt keep them from living a full life. Jesus wants you and I to experience life through him, a full life.
Jesus is the way to peace, John 14:27. We look so many different places for peace when all we need is to know Jesus Christ as Savior. He is the ultimate peace and you will never experience a deeper peace than knowing him.
Jesus is the way to unity, John 17:11. Jesus’ desire is that we be united with other believers and with Him in the same way that He was united with God. Why are churches failing to make an impact in their communities, because there is no unity?
Jesus is the way to meaning, John 11:41-44. We should find value in the fact that God has designed us and created us with a purpose. We should find value in the fact that Jesus died specifically for us.
When Jesus told them to remove the grave clothes from Lazarus he was telling Lazarus to go live. Before we came to know Christ we were spiritually dead he resurrected us, called us from the dead, when he called us to salvation. We need to take our spiritual grave clothes off and live for Christ. Live like we have value and meaning because he validated that for us on the cross.
Next week we’ll talk about truth.
The Father was not an evil man, but he just couldn’t believe in the childhood stories anymore of God coming as a baby in a manger. As the family left for church, he opened up the evening paper and began to read by the fireplace.
Suddenly, he heard tapping on the window. It was a bird flying against the glass of his window trying to get out of the snow into the warmth of his home. The man had compassion on the bird, and he went outside, hoping to bring it in.
As he approached the bird, the bird just flew against the window even harder. Pretty soon, the bird flew into the bushes below the window, half frozen, yet too afraid to be caught by this huge man. The more the man tried to reach for the bird, the more the bird flew frantically into the snow and thorns of the bushes.
After a few minutes in the cold and seeing the bird continue to injure itself, the man yelled out in frustration, "Stupid bird, can’t you understand that I’m trying to help?" The man paused and thought, "If only you understood you wouldn’t fly away ... if only ... if only I could become a bird, and get you to understand."
Just then, the church bells rang, as they always have on the hour. But when the man heard the bells this time, he fell to his knees and began to cry, saying, "Oh, God, I didn’t understand. Oh, God, I didn’t understand."
As we rush into the Holiday Season its important that we acknowledge who Jesus is. People all over the world will celebrate the birth of our Savior without realizing or acknowledging that he is God who became man to help you and I understand completely the depth of God’s love and provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him in heaven.
In John 14:6 Jesus makes an amazing revelation, in response to a question from Thomas, about who he is. By telling Thomas that he was the way, the truth and the life he was telling the world how they can better know Him and the Father.
What is Jesus the way to?
He is the way to fulfillment, John 10:10. He has a plan for our lives that lead us to a full and complete life. Many people live busy lives but guilt and doubt keep them from living a full life. Jesus wants you and I to experience life through him, a full life.
Jesus is the way to peace, John 14:27. We look so many different places for peace when all we need is to know Jesus Christ as Savior. He is the ultimate peace and you will never experience a deeper peace than knowing him.
Jesus is the way to unity, John 17:11. Jesus’ desire is that we be united with other believers and with Him in the same way that He was united with God. Why are churches failing to make an impact in their communities, because there is no unity?
Jesus is the way to meaning, John 11:41-44. We should find value in the fact that God has designed us and created us with a purpose. We should find value in the fact that Jesus died specifically for us.
When Jesus told them to remove the grave clothes from Lazarus he was telling Lazarus to go live. Before we came to know Christ we were spiritually dead he resurrected us, called us from the dead, when he called us to salvation. We need to take our spiritual grave clothes off and live for Christ. Live like we have value and meaning because he validated that for us on the cross.
Next week we’ll talk about truth.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Koinonia
According to Henry Blackaby the word Koinonia means the fullest partnership and fellowship with God and other believers. The author of Hebrews gives us an example of Koinonia in chapter 10:24-25.
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
To spur one another means to push in a direction. In this case it means to push towards love and good deeds. It is a church understanding that they are in partnership with God and each other and that partnership reaches its fullest point when the church comes together under God’s direction.
Remember there is the person that God desires us to be and the person that we are. We should constantly be striving to become the person that God desires us to be and our churches should strive for the same has well. For that to happen Koinonia cannot be an option. It has to be found consistently in our lives as well as in our churches.
When we allow sin in our lives and in our churches it breaks our fellowship with God and each other. In other words it disrupts our Koinonia. We must remember that God is faithful to forgive us for our sins and restore us to righteousness but we have to come before Him in confession of our faults.
Here are four essentials for making Koinonia a part of your every day life.
1. We must love God with our total beings. Matthew 22:37-38
At some point this becomes a struggle for all Christians. We truly desire to love, serve and follow God but we hold something back. Loving God with everything we are is just that, loving him with everything. That includes our thoughts, dreams, desires and every aspect of our lives without holding anything back.
2. We must submit to God’s sovereign rule. 1 John 2:15-16
Do you really make Him Lord of your life? That means you seek His will for you rather than your own. It means that you seek to please Him rather than yourself. It means you acknowledge God as an authority in your life.
3. We must experience God in a real and personal way. John 15:5
Do you remember that feeling you experienced the first time you recognized God in your life? When you surrendered to His will and invited Him into your life as your savior? I often wonder what happens to that feeling for many Christians. God doesn’t cease to exist we fail to continue to know Him in a personal way. Remember God is not going to force Himself upon us. We are drawn to Him and must remain in Him.
4. We must trust God completely. Isaiah 31:1
Do you think God for what He is going to do in your life tomorrow? I guess the question is, do you trust God to do something amazing in your life tomorrow? Complete trust means knowing that God is there in good and bad times and knowing that He has a plan for your life. Do you see that? Can you believe in that? Do you trust in that? Then live it!
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
To spur one another means to push in a direction. In this case it means to push towards love and good deeds. It is a church understanding that they are in partnership with God and each other and that partnership reaches its fullest point when the church comes together under God’s direction.
Remember there is the person that God desires us to be and the person that we are. We should constantly be striving to become the person that God desires us to be and our churches should strive for the same has well. For that to happen Koinonia cannot be an option. It has to be found consistently in our lives as well as in our churches.
When we allow sin in our lives and in our churches it breaks our fellowship with God and each other. In other words it disrupts our Koinonia. We must remember that God is faithful to forgive us for our sins and restore us to righteousness but we have to come before Him in confession of our faults.
Here are four essentials for making Koinonia a part of your every day life.
1. We must love God with our total beings. Matthew 22:37-38
At some point this becomes a struggle for all Christians. We truly desire to love, serve and follow God but we hold something back. Loving God with everything we are is just that, loving him with everything. That includes our thoughts, dreams, desires and every aspect of our lives without holding anything back.
2. We must submit to God’s sovereign rule. 1 John 2:15-16
Do you really make Him Lord of your life? That means you seek His will for you rather than your own. It means that you seek to please Him rather than yourself. It means you acknowledge God as an authority in your life.
3. We must experience God in a real and personal way. John 15:5
Do you remember that feeling you experienced the first time you recognized God in your life? When you surrendered to His will and invited Him into your life as your savior? I often wonder what happens to that feeling for many Christians. God doesn’t cease to exist we fail to continue to know Him in a personal way. Remember God is not going to force Himself upon us. We are drawn to Him and must remain in Him.
4. We must trust God completely. Isaiah 31:1
Do you think God for what He is going to do in your life tomorrow? I guess the question is, do you trust God to do something amazing in your life tomorrow? Complete trust means knowing that God is there in good and bad times and knowing that He has a plan for your life. Do you see that? Can you believe in that? Do you trust in that? Then live it!
Monday, November 21, 2005
Kingdom People
On April 23, 1985 Coca Cola made one of the biggest marketing blunders in history by stopping production on their original formula and putting a product called “New Coke” on the shelves.
This move was brought on by the rapidly shrinking market share that the soft drink had. In the late 70’s Pepsi began their Pepsi Challenge Campaign and for the first time outsold Coke in supermarkets.
Coke’s market share dropped from 60 percent just after World War II to under 24 percent in 1983. So Coke execs made a huge change for their company by changing the formula to sweeten the beverage in order to compete with Pepsi.
The project failed miserably as Coke consumers rejected the new product, signed petitions and even filed a class action lawsuit demanding that Coke sell the original formula if they were not going to produce it anymore. On July 10, less than three months later, the original formula went back on the shelves as Coca Cola Classic.
The problem was not necessarily the product inside the can, which tasted a lot like Pepsi, but the name on the outside of the can. For 100 years people associated that name with a particular taste and they were not willing to accept anything else. To them, what was on the inside of the can didn’t match what was on the outside of the can.
For over 2000 years Christian people have been trying to live a Christ like life. It’s is so important that what we say as Christians matches what we do. In other words what is on the inside must match what is on the outside. We should live today as if we were living in the Kingdom of God because we are. If you are a believer in Christ and have entered into a relationship you are a “Kingdom Person.” Real quickly let’s look at Kingdom People.
What do Kingdom People do?
They are on mission with God. Notice that we are not on mission with God or on mission for God. We are on mission with God. He will send us but he will also go ahead of us. What is the mission?
John 3:16
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Our mission is to tell the world about Jesus. We should always be ready to proclaim Christ. Acts 8:26-39 tells the story of Peter being willing to follow the Lord’s direction and go where he was told. He was also willing to proclaim Christ when the opportunity came.
How do Kingdom People live?
Obviously there are different principles for living in God’s Kingdom and living in the world. The teachings of Jesus are filled with principles for living in His kingdom. A great example of this is Matthew 18:23-35. If we would actually live what we read in the Bible we would be living like Kingdom People.
How do Kingdom People relate?
The word Koinonia means the fullest partnership and fellowship with God and other believers. That is how we are to relate to others. Understand that we are in partnership with other believers on this mission with God and we should fellowship with all people with God’s grace and mercy leading us. We should approach our relationships to other people with the same attitude that God has, Koinonia.
1 John 2:9-11
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
This move was brought on by the rapidly shrinking market share that the soft drink had. In the late 70’s Pepsi began their Pepsi Challenge Campaign and for the first time outsold Coke in supermarkets.
Coke’s market share dropped from 60 percent just after World War II to under 24 percent in 1983. So Coke execs made a huge change for their company by changing the formula to sweeten the beverage in order to compete with Pepsi.
The project failed miserably as Coke consumers rejected the new product, signed petitions and even filed a class action lawsuit demanding that Coke sell the original formula if they were not going to produce it anymore. On July 10, less than three months later, the original formula went back on the shelves as Coca Cola Classic.
The problem was not necessarily the product inside the can, which tasted a lot like Pepsi, but the name on the outside of the can. For 100 years people associated that name with a particular taste and they were not willing to accept anything else. To them, what was on the inside of the can didn’t match what was on the outside of the can.
For over 2000 years Christian people have been trying to live a Christ like life. It’s is so important that what we say as Christians matches what we do. In other words what is on the inside must match what is on the outside. We should live today as if we were living in the Kingdom of God because we are. If you are a believer in Christ and have entered into a relationship you are a “Kingdom Person.” Real quickly let’s look at Kingdom People.
What do Kingdom People do?
They are on mission with God. Notice that we are not on mission with God or on mission for God. We are on mission with God. He will send us but he will also go ahead of us. What is the mission?
John 3:16
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Our mission is to tell the world about Jesus. We should always be ready to proclaim Christ. Acts 8:26-39 tells the story of Peter being willing to follow the Lord’s direction and go where he was told. He was also willing to proclaim Christ when the opportunity came.
How do Kingdom People live?
Obviously there are different principles for living in God’s Kingdom and living in the world. The teachings of Jesus are filled with principles for living in His kingdom. A great example of this is Matthew 18:23-35. If we would actually live what we read in the Bible we would be living like Kingdom People.
How do Kingdom People relate?
The word Koinonia means the fullest partnership and fellowship with God and other believers. That is how we are to relate to others. Understand that we are in partnership with other believers on this mission with God and we should fellowship with all people with God’s grace and mercy leading us. We should approach our relationships to other people with the same attitude that God has, Koinonia.
1 John 2:9-11
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
Monday, November 14, 2005
The Church
The church has long been an institution that contributes to the developing of the moral foundation that our nation was built on. It has been a major life changing and character developing factor to people all over the world and it continues to grow and spread today.
When looking at what God’s will is for the church it’s important to understand that the church is the body of believers who come together to worship and minister under the guidance of Jesus Christ. An amazing thing happens every Sunday morning as individuals are transformed into one body. Paul talks about this in Romans 12:5.
5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
As this group of individuals becomes a body of believers the also become responsible to each other. They are responsible for both the physical and spiritual growth of the body. They are responsible discipling each other and meeting each other physical and spiritual needs.
Most importantly the body is responsible for allowing God to be present and active among them. Henry Blackaby wrote that when a church allows God’s presence and activity to be expressed, a watching world will be drawn to Him.
A church allows God’s presence to be active when it becomes unified through understanding what Christ, the Head of the church, is telling them. Paul talks about this as well in 1 Corinthians 1:10.
10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
So how does a group of individuals become unified in one spirit so that God can use them to do amazing things? If you think about it, it just doesn’t make any sense. When you get more than one person together you have differences. The only way the church can accomplish unity is by the people of the church taking on the mind of Christ and having a desire to serve Him above all else. Again we find the words of Paul to apply to this.
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2
The people who make up the church should practice daily sacrifice. That means putting aside our wants and desires daily for what God wants from us daily. When we learn to do this we find that not only is it easy to become unified with other believers but God is using us and making us effective. That’s when a church becomes vibrant and growing because the people who make up the body make themselves useable to God.
What is your mindset when it comes to your church? Do you go in search of unity? Have you made yourself usable by God? You would be amazed at how much of a difference your daily sacrifice can make in the body of believers.
When looking at what God’s will is for the church it’s important to understand that the church is the body of believers who come together to worship and minister under the guidance of Jesus Christ. An amazing thing happens every Sunday morning as individuals are transformed into one body. Paul talks about this in Romans 12:5.
5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
As this group of individuals becomes a body of believers the also become responsible to each other. They are responsible for both the physical and spiritual growth of the body. They are responsible discipling each other and meeting each other physical and spiritual needs.
Most importantly the body is responsible for allowing God to be present and active among them. Henry Blackaby wrote that when a church allows God’s presence and activity to be expressed, a watching world will be drawn to Him.
A church allows God’s presence to be active when it becomes unified through understanding what Christ, the Head of the church, is telling them. Paul talks about this as well in 1 Corinthians 1:10.
10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
So how does a group of individuals become unified in one spirit so that God can use them to do amazing things? If you think about it, it just doesn’t make any sense. When you get more than one person together you have differences. The only way the church can accomplish unity is by the people of the church taking on the mind of Christ and having a desire to serve Him above all else. Again we find the words of Paul to apply to this.
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2
The people who make up the church should practice daily sacrifice. That means putting aside our wants and desires daily for what God wants from us daily. When we learn to do this we find that not only is it easy to become unified with other believers but God is using us and making us effective. That’s when a church becomes vibrant and growing because the people who make up the body make themselves useable to God.
What is your mindset when it comes to your church? Do you go in search of unity? Have you made yourself usable by God? You would be amazed at how much of a difference your daily sacrifice can make in the body of believers.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Adjusting Our Lives to God
Stephen Kuropas was born with cerebral palsy. He cannot use his hands to write, he gets around in a wheelchair, and he requires help for such day-to-day functions as eating. However, after making some adjustments to his life and daily routine Kuropas was able to graduate with an associate’s degree from Community College of Philadelphia, at the age of 41.
Signing up for one class each semester, Kuropas tape recorded lectures and had assistants who took notes for him. Because he gets migraines from reading, helpers also recorded all of his books onto cassettes. At home, he typed his assignments onto a computer, using his head. Because he cannot speak clearly he communicates through expressive gestures and he shares his more complex thoughts on paper.
No doubt Stephen Kuropas had to make some major adjustments in his life to accomplish his dream. In the same way you and I must make adjustments in our lives in order to men the men and women of God that we desire to be.
Listen to the words of Jesus in Luke 14:33.
In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
You see in life you cannot stay where you are and go with God. You have to give up everything you are in order to take on the life that Christ has in store for you. Too many times we attempt to follow God while keeping our old lifestyles that we are so comfortable with. When we accept Christ as our savior and make him Lord of our lives we give up the way we spoke, the way we thought, the way we act, and the way we desire things. We take on a new identity in Christ. Basically we adjust our lives to him.
Here are a few men who made major adjustments in their lives to follow God.
Noah – Prepared for a world flood, even though there had never been rain before.
Moses – Went back to Egypt the place where he fled from.
Matthew – Gave up his lifestyle to follow Jesus.
Saul – Changed his identity and life purpose.
Even Jesus had to make major adjustments. He left heaven and came to earth. He became a man. Instead of being in complete control he allowed men to beat him and stretch him out and nail him to a cross.
Your greatest single difficulty in following God may come at the point of the adjustment. The reason why is because you are giving up something you want for what God wants. Why? Why would God want us to give something up that we want? It could be because He wants to see if we are truly devoted to Him, or it could be that He just knows better than we do.
Isaiah 55:9
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
During the terrible days of the Blitz in World War II, a father, holding his small son by the hand, ran from a building that had been struck by a bomb. In the front yard was a created that had been created by a bomb. Seeking shelter as quickly as possible, the father jumped into the hole and held up his arms for his son to follow. Terrified, yet hearing his father’s voice telling him to jump, the boy replied, “I can’t see you!”
“It’s okay”, the father yelled back, “I can see you.” The boy obeyed his father and jumped, trusting that he would be there to catch him.
Life adjustments come through obedience and faith. We have to trust God, even when we can’t see the outcome. We have to be obedient to Him, even when we are scared.
Here is the question it all comes down to. Do you really believe that God is who He says He is?
Go this week and allow God to adjust your life and desires to His will and His desires for you!
Signing up for one class each semester, Kuropas tape recorded lectures and had assistants who took notes for him. Because he gets migraines from reading, helpers also recorded all of his books onto cassettes. At home, he typed his assignments onto a computer, using his head. Because he cannot speak clearly he communicates through expressive gestures and he shares his more complex thoughts on paper.
No doubt Stephen Kuropas had to make some major adjustments in his life to accomplish his dream. In the same way you and I must make adjustments in our lives in order to men the men and women of God that we desire to be.
Listen to the words of Jesus in Luke 14:33.
In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
You see in life you cannot stay where you are and go with God. You have to give up everything you are in order to take on the life that Christ has in store for you. Too many times we attempt to follow God while keeping our old lifestyles that we are so comfortable with. When we accept Christ as our savior and make him Lord of our lives we give up the way we spoke, the way we thought, the way we act, and the way we desire things. We take on a new identity in Christ. Basically we adjust our lives to him.
Here are a few men who made major adjustments in their lives to follow God.
Noah – Prepared for a world flood, even though there had never been rain before.
Moses – Went back to Egypt the place where he fled from.
Matthew – Gave up his lifestyle to follow Jesus.
Saul – Changed his identity and life purpose.
Even Jesus had to make major adjustments. He left heaven and came to earth. He became a man. Instead of being in complete control he allowed men to beat him and stretch him out and nail him to a cross.
Your greatest single difficulty in following God may come at the point of the adjustment. The reason why is because you are giving up something you want for what God wants. Why? Why would God want us to give something up that we want? It could be because He wants to see if we are truly devoted to Him, or it could be that He just knows better than we do.
Isaiah 55:9
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
During the terrible days of the Blitz in World War II, a father, holding his small son by the hand, ran from a building that had been struck by a bomb. In the front yard was a created that had been created by a bomb. Seeking shelter as quickly as possible, the father jumped into the hole and held up his arms for his son to follow. Terrified, yet hearing his father’s voice telling him to jump, the boy replied, “I can’t see you!”
“It’s okay”, the father yelled back, “I can see you.” The boy obeyed his father and jumped, trusting that he would be there to catch him.
Life adjustments come through obedience and faith. We have to trust God, even when we can’t see the outcome. We have to be obedient to Him, even when we are scared.
Here is the question it all comes down to. Do you really believe that God is who He says He is?
Go this week and allow God to adjust your life and desires to His will and His desires for you!
Monday, October 17, 2005
God Speaks II
We began discussing last week how God speaks and who He speaks to. I want to finish that up this week by looking at a few more ways that God speaks and then at how we should respond to Him.
Last week we said that God speaks in different ways. He speaks to us today through the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and through prayer, emphasizing that the relationship with God is the key to communication with Him stating that children recognize and hear their father’s voice. Let’s look at a few more ways God speaks to us.
God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:10-12
Only the Holy Spirit knows what God is purposing in your life. Many Christians are frustrated with what God is doing, or not doing, in their lives because they don’t have a peace about it or they are uncomfortable with the clash between their lifestyles and the holiness that God desires.
The problem is we make all the decisions regarding our lives based on what we know and what makes us comfortable and not on what God is purposing for us. Let me give you a life application of what I am talking about.
At Mayfair, the church I pastor, we are a small growing church. I believe that God is leading us to be active in missions by sending a team into the mission field. I wasn’t for sure about it, but the more I prayed about it, the more I felt that is where God was leading our church. We had a mission trip information meeting to see if anyone else felt the same way about missions. We had 20 people who showed interest in participating in a mission trip. It turns out that I wasn’t the only one who felt God leading us to the mission field.
It would have been easy for us as a church to say that we are too small to go on the mission field. We are a growing church, 28 new members in 12 weeks, so it would have been easy for us to say, “Let’s wait until we grow more.” Instead we are moving forward with God’s purpose that the Holy Spirit has shown us.
Another way God speaks is through circumstances. In John 5:17 we learn that God is always working. That means in all situations He is at work. Our lives are full of both good and bad circumstances. We have to understand that in the middle of those circumstances is the voice of God. The key to hearing Him is understanding His perspective on our situation. When we learn to do this in both good and bad situations we will also learn to hear God’s voice.
Finally, God speaks to us through the church. A New Testament church is the Body of Christ. It is the responsibility of all members to function in the capacity of Jesus Christ Himself. You have heard the phrase, “Be His hands and feet”, that is exactly what the church is about. Just as your body has many parts, with each part having its own function, the church is made of many people who each serve in different functions.
Every action that you make begins in your mind. Before you stand up your brain actually gives the command for the muscles in your legs. Before the church makes a move, it should receive a command from the head of the body. That head is Jesus Christ! How do you know, if a church is functioning properly? Is it preaching the bible? Is it doing the things of Christ? When the church functions as the body of Christ and listens to the head, Jesus, it becomes the biggest voice of God to the modern world.
Last week we said that God speaks in different ways. He speaks to us today through the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and through prayer, emphasizing that the relationship with God is the key to communication with Him stating that children recognize and hear their father’s voice. Let’s look at a few more ways God speaks to us.
God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:10-12
Only the Holy Spirit knows what God is purposing in your life. Many Christians are frustrated with what God is doing, or not doing, in their lives because they don’t have a peace about it or they are uncomfortable with the clash between their lifestyles and the holiness that God desires.
The problem is we make all the decisions regarding our lives based on what we know and what makes us comfortable and not on what God is purposing for us. Let me give you a life application of what I am talking about.
At Mayfair, the church I pastor, we are a small growing church. I believe that God is leading us to be active in missions by sending a team into the mission field. I wasn’t for sure about it, but the more I prayed about it, the more I felt that is where God was leading our church. We had a mission trip information meeting to see if anyone else felt the same way about missions. We had 20 people who showed interest in participating in a mission trip. It turns out that I wasn’t the only one who felt God leading us to the mission field.
It would have been easy for us as a church to say that we are too small to go on the mission field. We are a growing church, 28 new members in 12 weeks, so it would have been easy for us to say, “Let’s wait until we grow more.” Instead we are moving forward with God’s purpose that the Holy Spirit has shown us.
Another way God speaks is through circumstances. In John 5:17 we learn that God is always working. That means in all situations He is at work. Our lives are full of both good and bad circumstances. We have to understand that in the middle of those circumstances is the voice of God. The key to hearing Him is understanding His perspective on our situation. When we learn to do this in both good and bad situations we will also learn to hear God’s voice.
Finally, God speaks to us through the church. A New Testament church is the Body of Christ. It is the responsibility of all members to function in the capacity of Jesus Christ Himself. You have heard the phrase, “Be His hands and feet”, that is exactly what the church is about. Just as your body has many parts, with each part having its own function, the church is made of many people who each serve in different functions.
Every action that you make begins in your mind. Before you stand up your brain actually gives the command for the muscles in your legs. Before the church makes a move, it should receive a command from the head of the body. That head is Jesus Christ! How do you know, if a church is functioning properly? Is it preaching the bible? Is it doing the things of Christ? When the church functions as the body of Christ and listens to the head, Jesus, it becomes the biggest voice of God to the modern world.
Monday, October 10, 2005
God Speaks Part I
Have you seen the e-mail that goes around titled “Church Bulletin Bloopers”? It makes its way to me about every four months and it always has new additions to it. They are actually pretty entertaining. Here are a few of my favorites.
The Sermon this morning: “Jesus walks on water.”
The Sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus.”
Don’t let worry kill you …let the church help.
This evening’s sermon: “What is hell like?”
Come early and hear the choir practice.
Obviously these statements say one thing and mean another. The problem is in communication and communication problems always lead to confusion. Many Christians today are confused spiritually because they are struggling to hear from God. God does speak to people today! The questions we are going to look at are how and to whom?
Hebrews 1:1
1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways.
In the Old Testament there were several ways God spoke to people. He used prophets, angels, visions, and dreams. The list could go on but when looking at the Old Testament the key is not how God spoke, but understanding that He did speak.
When God spoke, the person was sure God was speaking to them. In Exodus 3:14, when Moses looked for assurance as to who God was, He responded by telling Moses, “I Am who I Am.” In other words he was telling Moses that He was God and there was no other word to describe Him. There would be no chance for a case of mistaken identity. Moses knew exactly who was speaking to him.
When God spoke, the person knew what God said. God speaks in detail. He leaves no doubt as to what He is asking you to do. When you look at the story of Noah you see that God told him in exact detail how to build the ark and what he was to do with it.
In the Gospels, God spoke through Jesus.
John 14:9-10
9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
When the disciples were with Jesus they were face to face with God the same way Moses was. When you and I allow Jesus into our lives we are inviting that same God to live through us.
In the book of Acts and to the present time God speaks again through various ways.
He speaks through the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19
19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
The Holy Spirit dwells within us and speaks to us and allows us to hear the voice and feel the nudging of God.
God speaks through the Bible.
Hebrews 4:12
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The Bible is God’s gift to you. It is His message to you, everything that is in there is there because He desired it to be. When we read it and apply it’s principles to our lives, it comes to life and we hear Him speaking to us through it.
God speaks through prayer. Prayer is about a relationship, not a religious activity. To speak to God and hear from Him requires that you actually know Him, not know who he is, but know Him in an intimate way.
We’ll talk more next week about how God speaks, but I want to close by discussing who hears Him.
John 8:47
47He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
Children hear their father’s voice. A father speaks to his child in different ways, he may speak tenderly out of love or he may speak firmly out of correction, but a caring father always speaks out of love. When we look at our relationship with God as a father/child relationship, we understand that God speaks directly to us out of love.
Have you accepted God as your heavenly father? If not, why are you waiting? He loves you with an everlasting love and He wants to give you all the benefits of being His child. Can you hear is voice?
The Sermon this morning: “Jesus walks on water.”
The Sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus.”
Don’t let worry kill you …let the church help.
This evening’s sermon: “What is hell like?”
Come early and hear the choir practice.
Obviously these statements say one thing and mean another. The problem is in communication and communication problems always lead to confusion. Many Christians today are confused spiritually because they are struggling to hear from God. God does speak to people today! The questions we are going to look at are how and to whom?
Hebrews 1:1
1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways.
In the Old Testament there were several ways God spoke to people. He used prophets, angels, visions, and dreams. The list could go on but when looking at the Old Testament the key is not how God spoke, but understanding that He did speak.
When God spoke, the person was sure God was speaking to them. In Exodus 3:14, when Moses looked for assurance as to who God was, He responded by telling Moses, “I Am who I Am.” In other words he was telling Moses that He was God and there was no other word to describe Him. There would be no chance for a case of mistaken identity. Moses knew exactly who was speaking to him.
When God spoke, the person knew what God said. God speaks in detail. He leaves no doubt as to what He is asking you to do. When you look at the story of Noah you see that God told him in exact detail how to build the ark and what he was to do with it.
In the Gospels, God spoke through Jesus.
John 14:9-10
9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
When the disciples were with Jesus they were face to face with God the same way Moses was. When you and I allow Jesus into our lives we are inviting that same God to live through us.
In the book of Acts and to the present time God speaks again through various ways.
He speaks through the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19
19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
The Holy Spirit dwells within us and speaks to us and allows us to hear the voice and feel the nudging of God.
God speaks through the Bible.
Hebrews 4:12
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The Bible is God’s gift to you. It is His message to you, everything that is in there is there because He desired it to be. When we read it and apply it’s principles to our lives, it comes to life and we hear Him speaking to us through it.
God speaks through prayer. Prayer is about a relationship, not a religious activity. To speak to God and hear from Him requires that you actually know Him, not know who he is, but know Him in an intimate way.
We’ll talk more next week about how God speaks, but I want to close by discussing who hears Him.
John 8:47
47He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
Children hear their father’s voice. A father speaks to his child in different ways, he may speak tenderly out of love or he may speak firmly out of correction, but a caring father always speaks out of love. When we look at our relationship with God as a father/child relationship, we understand that God speaks directly to us out of love.
Have you accepted God as your heavenly father? If not, why are you waiting? He loves you with an everlasting love and He wants to give you all the benefits of being His child. Can you hear is voice?
Monday, October 03, 2005
An Invitation of Love
By Matt Hofeld
My kids love to receive invitations. When they are invited to a birthday party or to a friend’s house they just glow with excitement. I even like to get invitations. What makes invitations so popular? When we are invited to something it means that someone wants to include us and we all like to feel included. It means that we are liked or loved.
Did you know that God gives you and me an invitation to join Him in what He is doing? He doesn’t do it because He needs us. He gives us an invitation to join Him in what He is doing because He loves us. Before we talk about joining God in what he is doing, let’s talk about the different ways we experience God’s love.
First, we experience God’s love by knowing Him.
John 14:21
21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
We show God our love for Him through our obedience and our obedience is what allows us to know Him. Notice that the Lord will show Himself to the one He loves, the one who shows love through obedience.
Second, we experience God’s love through worship.
Psalm 96:2
2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
When we give our devotion to God in worship He gives back to us in love. When we stay close to Him, He will revive us. When we learn from Him and walk in his teachings, He will keep our hearts devoted to Him. All acts of worship draw a response of love from God.
Keep in mind that there are always indications of the depth of our love. Our daily choices to honor God with our lifestyles, how much time we spend in God’s word, and how much time we spend in communication with Him daily are all indications of our love for Him.
God’s indication of His love towards us is the invitation for us to join him. He is already at work and His work isn’t limited to our participation.
John 5:17
17Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."
Often we pray for God to use us or to start something with us. Instead we need to ask Him to show us where He is working. He has already started something and has invited us to join Him, it’s our responsibility to find out where He is working and get plugged in.
John 14:15-17 tells us that the Holy Spirit will guide us, but it’s still our responsibility to seek.
The bible is full of stories where God showed where He was at work to normal people and they joined Him. Moses was tending sheep in the desert when God gave him an invitation to join Him. Peter and Andrew were fishing when Jesus gave them their invitation.
What about you? What were you doing when God invited you join Him? Did you accept his invitation? God’s work will continue whether you join Him or not.
Philippians 1:6
6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It’s out of love that He chooses to invite us. That should make you feel valuable and accepted by the most important being in the entire universe.
My kids love to receive invitations. When they are invited to a birthday party or to a friend’s house they just glow with excitement. I even like to get invitations. What makes invitations so popular? When we are invited to something it means that someone wants to include us and we all like to feel included. It means that we are liked or loved.
Did you know that God gives you and me an invitation to join Him in what He is doing? He doesn’t do it because He needs us. He gives us an invitation to join Him in what He is doing because He loves us. Before we talk about joining God in what he is doing, let’s talk about the different ways we experience God’s love.
First, we experience God’s love by knowing Him.
John 14:21
21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
We show God our love for Him through our obedience and our obedience is what allows us to know Him. Notice that the Lord will show Himself to the one He loves, the one who shows love through obedience.
Second, we experience God’s love through worship.
Psalm 96:2
2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
When we give our devotion to God in worship He gives back to us in love. When we stay close to Him, He will revive us. When we learn from Him and walk in his teachings, He will keep our hearts devoted to Him. All acts of worship draw a response of love from God.
Keep in mind that there are always indications of the depth of our love. Our daily choices to honor God with our lifestyles, how much time we spend in God’s word, and how much time we spend in communication with Him daily are all indications of our love for Him.
God’s indication of His love towards us is the invitation for us to join him. He is already at work and His work isn’t limited to our participation.
John 5:17
17Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."
Often we pray for God to use us or to start something with us. Instead we need to ask Him to show us where He is working. He has already started something and has invited us to join Him, it’s our responsibility to find out where He is working and get plugged in.
John 14:15-17 tells us that the Holy Spirit will guide us, but it’s still our responsibility to seek.
The bible is full of stories where God showed where He was at work to normal people and they joined Him. Moses was tending sheep in the desert when God gave him an invitation to join Him. Peter and Andrew were fishing when Jesus gave them their invitation.
What about you? What were you doing when God invited you join Him? Did you accept his invitation? God’s work will continue whether you join Him or not.
Philippians 1:6
6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It’s out of love that He chooses to invite us. That should make you feel valuable and accepted by the most important being in the entire universe.
Monday, September 26, 2005
In Hot Pursuit
A woman walks away from her family to begin her pursuit of love. Imagine leaving your husband to try to find true love, imaging leaving your children looking to be needed and wanted. This happens every day in America as people search to be loved greater than they currently are.
When Jesus spoke of love, he spoke of it in the highest regard. When asked what the greatest commandment was he responded with, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38
Of all the things we could do for God, the greatest is to love Him with all that we are. There is no higher form of human love than loving with all your heart, soul and mind. You are literally loving with all that you have. So what is it about love that makes it the greatest commandment?
First of all you and I were created for a love relationship. We were designed to both give and receive love. Have you ever watched a child love something? It could be a parent a pet or a toy; they are going to love it with all that they have. It’s the only way they know how. Why do abused children cry when their parents are removed from them? Because even in an abusive situation a small child only knows how to love, we are naturally built that way. When we grow older we sometimes lose that ability to give love but we never lose the desire to receive love.
This principle holds true spiritually as well. We have a need to receive love from God. In fact, everything in your Christian life depends on the quality of your love relationship with God. You were created to love and be loved by Him and our relationship is only as deep as our love. When you struggle with a particular sin issue in your life, that struggle becomes even more difficult because we are choosing that sin over God. We do not love God with all that we are in that particular situation. We are not giving real love.
When we look towards the party scene and immoral relationships, or drugs and alcohol for fulfillment, we only wind up living in more guilt and misery because we are only receiving a temporary fix and not real love.
How do we know what real love is? This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. I John 3:16
Real love is sacrifice. It always gives and it never takes. Jesus gave up being God to walk the earth as a human and suffer a brutal death for you. God gave up His only son and watched him suffer on the cross for you. Why? Why would they do that? It was done out of love. God understands the concept of real love. He understands that it is always giving. What about you? In your relationships with other people are you a giver or a taker. How about when it comes to God? Do you give to Him or always seek to take?
Not only were we created for a love relationship, but a love relationship with God. He does love you. It’s your purpose in life to be loved by Him. People actually look for proof of God’s love, but it is only found in a relationship with Him. You actually have to decide to accept His love.
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24
You can’t serve God and be rich? Sure you can! I know some very wealthy people how are loving Christians and have amazing testimonies of how God changed their lives. There is nothing wrong with having money. This is a reference to choosing God or the ways of the world. Who is your master? Do you say you love God and yet pursue the lifestyles that the world offers? You actually have to make a choice here. You have to choose to be fully in love with God or fully in love with other things. You can’t be both! That is the point that Jesus is making in this verse.
Here is the most amazing thing of all. While we are out there looking for real love, God is actually pursuing us. He is desperately trying to catch you so that he can love you. Jeremiah paints this picture for us in chapter 31.
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Jeremiah 31:3
How about that? God is actually wooing us to Him. He is trying to pull us towards Him with loving-kindness. Are you currently in a pursuit of love? Why don’t you choose today to end your pursuit be ending God’s? Turn to Him, open your life and let Him take control. Let Him give to you and then find you purpose and meaning. Make your choice today to love God with all that you are!
When Jesus spoke of love, he spoke of it in the highest regard. When asked what the greatest commandment was he responded with, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38
Of all the things we could do for God, the greatest is to love Him with all that we are. There is no higher form of human love than loving with all your heart, soul and mind. You are literally loving with all that you have. So what is it about love that makes it the greatest commandment?
First of all you and I were created for a love relationship. We were designed to both give and receive love. Have you ever watched a child love something? It could be a parent a pet or a toy; they are going to love it with all that they have. It’s the only way they know how. Why do abused children cry when their parents are removed from them? Because even in an abusive situation a small child only knows how to love, we are naturally built that way. When we grow older we sometimes lose that ability to give love but we never lose the desire to receive love.
This principle holds true spiritually as well. We have a need to receive love from God. In fact, everything in your Christian life depends on the quality of your love relationship with God. You were created to love and be loved by Him and our relationship is only as deep as our love. When you struggle with a particular sin issue in your life, that struggle becomes even more difficult because we are choosing that sin over God. We do not love God with all that we are in that particular situation. We are not giving real love.
When we look towards the party scene and immoral relationships, or drugs and alcohol for fulfillment, we only wind up living in more guilt and misery because we are only receiving a temporary fix and not real love.
How do we know what real love is? This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. I John 3:16
Real love is sacrifice. It always gives and it never takes. Jesus gave up being God to walk the earth as a human and suffer a brutal death for you. God gave up His only son and watched him suffer on the cross for you. Why? Why would they do that? It was done out of love. God understands the concept of real love. He understands that it is always giving. What about you? In your relationships with other people are you a giver or a taker. How about when it comes to God? Do you give to Him or always seek to take?
Not only were we created for a love relationship, but a love relationship with God. He does love you. It’s your purpose in life to be loved by Him. People actually look for proof of God’s love, but it is only found in a relationship with Him. You actually have to decide to accept His love.
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24
You can’t serve God and be rich? Sure you can! I know some very wealthy people how are loving Christians and have amazing testimonies of how God changed their lives. There is nothing wrong with having money. This is a reference to choosing God or the ways of the world. Who is your master? Do you say you love God and yet pursue the lifestyles that the world offers? You actually have to make a choice here. You have to choose to be fully in love with God or fully in love with other things. You can’t be both! That is the point that Jesus is making in this verse.
Here is the most amazing thing of all. While we are out there looking for real love, God is actually pursuing us. He is desperately trying to catch you so that he can love you. Jeremiah paints this picture for us in chapter 31.
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Jeremiah 31:3
How about that? God is actually wooing us to Him. He is trying to pull us towards Him with loving-kindness. Are you currently in a pursuit of love? Why don’t you choose today to end your pursuit be ending God’s? Turn to Him, open your life and let Him take control. Let Him give to you and then find you purpose and meaning. Make your choice today to love God with all that you are!
Monday, September 19, 2005
Trusting in God
Everyday you and I depend on things. We depend on our cars to get us to work, or we depend on others to help us accomplish various tasks. We depend on our civil authorities to keep us safe and provide protection. We depend on the roofs of our homes to keep us dry in the rain. Who or what do you depend on?
David said in Psalm 20:7,
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
We quit trusting in God as a nation a long time ago. The, “In God we trust”, that is written across every dollar bill in our country is a lie. The truth is, we trust in ourselves. As a nation we trust in our money, our people and our military might. We are the “some” that David spoke about.
So, how do we get back to being a nation that trusts in God? We must first become individuals who trust in God. What are we talking about when we say trust in God?
First, we trust in his name. Have you even seen a fake Rolex watch or a fake Armani suit? They are called knock-offs. They look just like the real things, but they are really just cheap imitations. We don’t believe in, or trust an imitation God. We believe in the name of Jesus Christ!
John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
In a world full of “knock-off” God’s do you believe in the name of Jesus Christ or have you settled for a cheap imitation?
Second, we trust in his word. It is hard to take people for their word today. It seems as if we can say one thing and then do another without even flinching.
John 17:17
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
God is not like us. He will not break or change his word at all. It is what it is. It always has been and it always will be truth. Science, history and archeology have all proven God’s word to be true.
Third, we trust in his promise. The bible is full of promises. Two of my favorites are Jeremiah 29:11 and John 3:16. I’m sure you have your own as well. We can trust in these promises because they have been proven faithful to believers for centuries.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Isn’t it amazing that God has to wait on us to fulfill his promises? Often people are waiting on God to prove himself before they believe in him. It works the other way around, God has already proven himself and you see that once you have put your trust in him.
Finally, we trust in his power. Chariots and horses were weapons of war. Much like tanks and helicopters today, the warring who possessed theses weapons of their time had an advantage.
You and I are involved in a spiritual war; it’s a war for our very souls. We are not strong enough to fight so we must trust in someone else’s strength if we do not want to be taken captive.
Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Only Christ has the power to change your life. Only in him will you find complete meaning in life. Only in him will you find complete forgiveness. Only in him will you find the power to find abundant eternal life.
David said in Psalm 20:7,
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
We quit trusting in God as a nation a long time ago. The, “In God we trust”, that is written across every dollar bill in our country is a lie. The truth is, we trust in ourselves. As a nation we trust in our money, our people and our military might. We are the “some” that David spoke about.
So, how do we get back to being a nation that trusts in God? We must first become individuals who trust in God. What are we talking about when we say trust in God?
First, we trust in his name. Have you even seen a fake Rolex watch or a fake Armani suit? They are called knock-offs. They look just like the real things, but they are really just cheap imitations. We don’t believe in, or trust an imitation God. We believe in the name of Jesus Christ!
John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
In a world full of “knock-off” God’s do you believe in the name of Jesus Christ or have you settled for a cheap imitation?
Second, we trust in his word. It is hard to take people for their word today. It seems as if we can say one thing and then do another without even flinching.
John 17:17
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
God is not like us. He will not break or change his word at all. It is what it is. It always has been and it always will be truth. Science, history and archeology have all proven God’s word to be true.
Third, we trust in his promise. The bible is full of promises. Two of my favorites are Jeremiah 29:11 and John 3:16. I’m sure you have your own as well. We can trust in these promises because they have been proven faithful to believers for centuries.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Isn’t it amazing that God has to wait on us to fulfill his promises? Often people are waiting on God to prove himself before they believe in him. It works the other way around, God has already proven himself and you see that once you have put your trust in him.
Finally, we trust in his power. Chariots and horses were weapons of war. Much like tanks and helicopters today, the warring who possessed theses weapons of their time had an advantage.
You and I are involved in a spiritual war; it’s a war for our very souls. We are not strong enough to fight so we must trust in someone else’s strength if we do not want to be taken captive.
Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Only Christ has the power to change your life. Only in him will you find complete meaning in life. Only in him will you find complete forgiveness. Only in him will you find the power to find abundant eternal life.
Monday, September 12, 2005
God's Will & Your Life
By Matt Hofeld
Perhaps you remember the Rainbow Man? If you are a sports fan like me (I think sports nut is a better term for me) then you remember Rollen Stewart’s rainbow colored wig and his ever-present John 3:16 sign during the mid 80’s. It was the wig that got him the nickname Rainbow Man.
A self-ordained minister, it was Stewart’s mission to advance the Gospel through gaining air time at major sporting events and hoisting his John 3:16 sign. However, as Rainbow man’s popularity grew so did disgust from television producers. "He's a pest, " an NBC executive once snorted. "We try to take him out of a shot whenever we can." "He got to be a terrific distraction," seconded ABC sports producer Chet Forte. "He would station himself behind home plate and our camera would view over the pitcher's shoulder and it was very annoying seeing this guy waving the signs and all."
Stewart began to be ejected from sporting events and TV time was greatly reduced by the early 90’s. Facing failure in his mission Stewart took matters in his own hands and attempted to kidnap two day laborers before holding a maid hostage for almost ten hours in a L.A. high rise hotel.
Rollen Stewart’s Rainbow Man became bigger than his message to him and his fame became so important to him that he became addicted. He is now serving three life sentences in federal prison for the attempted kidnapping and the hostage situation.
At some pointing time your life and God’s will intersect. At that point in time you have to make a choice as to what you will do with God’s will. He does not force His will upon you rather He allows you to make a choice about your life. Many people say that they desire to follow God but fail because they don’t understand the concept of abiding. Listen to the words of Jesus in John 15:5;
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The key word here is “remain”. It means to live or to dwell or to abide. Jesus is the source of life. He has a plan for your life and desires that you follow it. The key is choosing to abide.
When it comes to your relationship with Christ, do you abide in Him? Have you chosen to live in Christ or are you just staying for a while. There is night and day difference between staying for a while and dwelling. That was the problem with Rollen Stewart. I believe he really had a desire to advance the Gospel, but I also believe that he did not dwell or live in a relationship with Christ.
Remember, you will never be more that God’s desire for your life, but you can always be less. The deciding factor is choosing to abide instead of stay for a while. What will you do when your life and God’s will intersect?
Perhaps you remember the Rainbow Man? If you are a sports fan like me (I think sports nut is a better term for me) then you remember Rollen Stewart’s rainbow colored wig and his ever-present John 3:16 sign during the mid 80’s. It was the wig that got him the nickname Rainbow Man.
A self-ordained minister, it was Stewart’s mission to advance the Gospel through gaining air time at major sporting events and hoisting his John 3:16 sign. However, as Rainbow man’s popularity grew so did disgust from television producers. "He's a pest, " an NBC executive once snorted. "We try to take him out of a shot whenever we can." "He got to be a terrific distraction," seconded ABC sports producer Chet Forte. "He would station himself behind home plate and our camera would view over the pitcher's shoulder and it was very annoying seeing this guy waving the signs and all."
Stewart began to be ejected from sporting events and TV time was greatly reduced by the early 90’s. Facing failure in his mission Stewart took matters in his own hands and attempted to kidnap two day laborers before holding a maid hostage for almost ten hours in a L.A. high rise hotel.
Rollen Stewart’s Rainbow Man became bigger than his message to him and his fame became so important to him that he became addicted. He is now serving three life sentences in federal prison for the attempted kidnapping and the hostage situation.
At some pointing time your life and God’s will intersect. At that point in time you have to make a choice as to what you will do with God’s will. He does not force His will upon you rather He allows you to make a choice about your life. Many people say that they desire to follow God but fail because they don’t understand the concept of abiding. Listen to the words of Jesus in John 15:5;
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
The key word here is “remain”. It means to live or to dwell or to abide. Jesus is the source of life. He has a plan for your life and desires that you follow it. The key is choosing to abide.
When it comes to your relationship with Christ, do you abide in Him? Have you chosen to live in Christ or are you just staying for a while. There is night and day difference between staying for a while and dwelling. That was the problem with Rollen Stewart. I believe he really had a desire to advance the Gospel, but I also believe that he did not dwell or live in a relationship with Christ.
Remember, you will never be more that God’s desire for your life, but you can always be less. The deciding factor is choosing to abide instead of stay for a while. What will you do when your life and God’s will intersect?
Monday, September 05, 2005
Blessed If…
There he stood, by the buffet line, dressed in his best suit, covered in salad dressing. You could see the anger on his face and you could almost hear the blood boiling with in him as he demanded to speak to the manager.
It was shortly after 12:30 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon when a waitress at the buffet style restaurant paused for a moment after coming out of the kitchen door to let a man pass by. It was during that pause that another worker burst out of the kitchen door hurling the young waitress and her bucket of salad dressing into the man she was politely letting pass by.
There in front of her manager this sharply dressed ban screamed about incompetence, stupidity and demanded that she be fired immediately. He also demanded that the restaurant buy him a new $500.00 suite.
Trying to be a peace maker the manager tried to explain that accidents do happen an offered to pay for the dry-cleaning of the man’s suite. The man wouldn’t hear of it and stuck to his original demands.
Here is the problem with this story. Where do you think a sharply dressed man is coming from on an early Sunday afternoon? Most likely he had been to a church that morning and heard about God’s love, grace and forgiveness. Then he went out and lived just the opposite.
Christians have to understand that God’s way usually contradicts the world’s. God’s desire is that we be very different from those who do not confess Him as Lord. In fact, if you as a Christian are no different than your friends and neighbors who are not believers, then what’s the point?
In Matthew 5:1-11 Jesus gives us in detail how we are to respond and how we are to live with the promise of a blessing with each one.
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Here is what Jesus is saying. Notice the contradictions.
To become royalty we have to become poor (vs.3). He is not speaking of monetary poverty rather spiritual poverty, being poor in the sight of God, understanding that we have nothing spiritually without Him. When we reach the point where we fully recognize that we are dependent on God and God alone to grow spiritually then we are blessed by entering into God’s heavenly family, thus, becoming royalty.
To be comforted we have to mourn (vs.4). This refers to being broken-hearted because of the sin we have committed towards God. Often sin does not affect us because we just take advantage of God’s grace. Instead, sin should break our hearts because we are hurting God and taking advantage of Jesus’ death on the cross. When we reach a point where we are broken hearted over our sin then we are blessed with the comfort of God.
To inherit we have to be meek (vs. 5). Meekness is not weakness! Meekness is understanding who and what you are in relation to other people. Knowing that you were created equal by God and stand on even ground with the rest of humanity before Him. We are blessed with inheriting God’s creation when we become meek.
To be filled we have to hunger (vs.6). Do you hunger for God the same way you do food? Do you desire to do the right thing the same as you desire to eat? God blesses us by filling us with His presence when we truly hunger for Him.
To receive mercy we have to show mercy (vs. 7). There is a general misconception of what mercy is. We think that mercy is simply feeling sorry for someone. Mercy is a sense of pity (feeling sorry for someone) plus a desire to relive the suffering. When we show true mercy we are blessed by God’s mercy.
To see God we have to be pure (vs. 8). A pure heart is a heart without defilement or contamination. We achieve this by trusting in God for mercy and forgiveness and we maintain this by looking for God’s direction in life and making choices based on what He desire for us instead of what we desire for ourselves. We are blessed by seeing God active in our lives when we commit to purity.
To be a child of God we have to make peace (vs. 9). A peacemaker is a person we pursues peace at all cost. Sometimes conflict is the result of the pursuit of peace. In World War II hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in the pursuit of peace. The question we have to ask ourselves is, are we pursuers of peace or ignorers of conflict? There is a huge difference and we are blessed with becoming a child of God when we choose to pursue peace.
To take possession of the kingdom we have to be persecuted (vs. 10). To take possession of something means to have ownership of it. If we desire to have ownership of the kingdom of God then we have to own up to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That means even in the face of persecution we confess Him as our Lord. When things don’t go right for you is He still Lord? When people question you, make fun of you, reject and doubt you because of your beliefs is He still Lord? We are blessed with the Kingdom of Heaven when we confess Jesus Christ as Lord even in the face of persecution.
It was shortly after 12:30 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon when a waitress at the buffet style restaurant paused for a moment after coming out of the kitchen door to let a man pass by. It was during that pause that another worker burst out of the kitchen door hurling the young waitress and her bucket of salad dressing into the man she was politely letting pass by.
There in front of her manager this sharply dressed ban screamed about incompetence, stupidity and demanded that she be fired immediately. He also demanded that the restaurant buy him a new $500.00 suite.
Trying to be a peace maker the manager tried to explain that accidents do happen an offered to pay for the dry-cleaning of the man’s suite. The man wouldn’t hear of it and stuck to his original demands.
Here is the problem with this story. Where do you think a sharply dressed man is coming from on an early Sunday afternoon? Most likely he had been to a church that morning and heard about God’s love, grace and forgiveness. Then he went out and lived just the opposite.
Christians have to understand that God’s way usually contradicts the world’s. God’s desire is that we be very different from those who do not confess Him as Lord. In fact, if you as a Christian are no different than your friends and neighbors who are not believers, then what’s the point?
In Matthew 5:1-11 Jesus gives us in detail how we are to respond and how we are to live with the promise of a blessing with each one.
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Here is what Jesus is saying. Notice the contradictions.
To become royalty we have to become poor (vs.3). He is not speaking of monetary poverty rather spiritual poverty, being poor in the sight of God, understanding that we have nothing spiritually without Him. When we reach the point where we fully recognize that we are dependent on God and God alone to grow spiritually then we are blessed by entering into God’s heavenly family, thus, becoming royalty.
To be comforted we have to mourn (vs.4). This refers to being broken-hearted because of the sin we have committed towards God. Often sin does not affect us because we just take advantage of God’s grace. Instead, sin should break our hearts because we are hurting God and taking advantage of Jesus’ death on the cross. When we reach a point where we are broken hearted over our sin then we are blessed with the comfort of God.
To inherit we have to be meek (vs. 5). Meekness is not weakness! Meekness is understanding who and what you are in relation to other people. Knowing that you were created equal by God and stand on even ground with the rest of humanity before Him. We are blessed with inheriting God’s creation when we become meek.
To be filled we have to hunger (vs.6). Do you hunger for God the same way you do food? Do you desire to do the right thing the same as you desire to eat? God blesses us by filling us with His presence when we truly hunger for Him.
To receive mercy we have to show mercy (vs. 7). There is a general misconception of what mercy is. We think that mercy is simply feeling sorry for someone. Mercy is a sense of pity (feeling sorry for someone) plus a desire to relive the suffering. When we show true mercy we are blessed by God’s mercy.
To see God we have to be pure (vs. 8). A pure heart is a heart without defilement or contamination. We achieve this by trusting in God for mercy and forgiveness and we maintain this by looking for God’s direction in life and making choices based on what He desire for us instead of what we desire for ourselves. We are blessed by seeing God active in our lives when we commit to purity.
To be a child of God we have to make peace (vs. 9). A peacemaker is a person we pursues peace at all cost. Sometimes conflict is the result of the pursuit of peace. In World War II hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in the pursuit of peace. The question we have to ask ourselves is, are we pursuers of peace or ignorers of conflict? There is a huge difference and we are blessed with becoming a child of God when we choose to pursue peace.
To take possession of the kingdom we have to be persecuted (vs. 10). To take possession of something means to have ownership of it. If we desire to have ownership of the kingdom of God then we have to own up to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That means even in the face of persecution we confess Him as our Lord. When things don’t go right for you is He still Lord? When people question you, make fun of you, reject and doubt you because of your beliefs is He still Lord? We are blessed with the Kingdom of Heaven when we confess Jesus Christ as Lord even in the face of persecution.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
DANCING WITH GOD
Submitted by;
Dennis Dawson
Illinois Baptist State Association
When I meditated on the word GUIDANCE, I kept seeing "dance" at the end
of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like
dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The
movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite
uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the
other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing
lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body,
moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness, and
attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the
other.
My eyes drew back to the word GUIDANCE.
When I saw "G," I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i." "God, "u" and
"i" dance." God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became
willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again,
I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies be upon you
on this day and everyday. May you abide in God as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through
each season of your life.
If God has done anything for you in your life, please share this message
with someone else, for prayer is one of the best gifts we can
receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards; so let's continue to
pray for one another.
AND I HOPE YOU DANCE!!!!!
Dennis Dawson
Illinois Baptist State Association
When I meditated on the word GUIDANCE, I kept seeing "dance" at the end
of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like
dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The
movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite
uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the
other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing
lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body,
moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness, and
attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the
other.
My eyes drew back to the word GUIDANCE.
When I saw "G," I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i." "God, "u" and
"i" dance." God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became
willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again,
I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies be upon you
on this day and everyday. May you abide in God as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through
each season of your life.
If God has done anything for you in your life, please share this message
with someone else, for prayer is one of the best gifts we can
receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards; so let's continue to
pray for one another.
AND I HOPE YOU DANCE!!!!!
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