We have discussed in previous post how hope precedes our faith. Today we are going to talk about what faith should precede. Is faith an ends to a mean in itself? Is it enough to have faith? Is faith the goal that God has for us. Is it God's plan that the height of our Spiritual existence would be faith itself? People are so bold and anxious to talk about their beliefs. There have been wars fought over differences of belief. From the day that Martin Luther signed his 95 thesis document and pinned it to the door of the Castle Catholic church on October 31, 1517 there have been fragments of beliefs and doctrines and denomination each with their own view points on faith.
Should our faith be the end of our Spiritual journey? Our faith is very important. We are told in the book of Timothy to;
Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
It is important to know what you believe as the basis and the thesis of your faith, but relationship with God does not end with what you believe. It is very important what we believe because our faith springs up out of our doctrine. But, is learning our belief, our doctrine, our faith the end of the spiritual journey? Does something come after faith?
In the Bible, faith was always followed by action. When we do not follow our faith we actions, our faith is not a living faith, but it is a dead faith. We see many people today that have faith, but it is a dead faith! When we do not have action following our faith, our faith is dead.
James 2: 14-26 What
does it profit, my brethren, though a man says he has faith, and has not works?
can faith save him? If a
brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And
one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled; yet you give
them not those things which are needful to the body; what does it
profit? Even
so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.
Yea,
a man may say, You have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your
works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You
believe that there is one God; you do well: the demons also believe, and
tremble. But
will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Was
not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son
upon the altar?
See
how faith worked with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And
the scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed
unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. You
see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she
had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
also.
Hebrews chapter 11 names some of the old testament heroes, and the actions that they did by faith. By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice; by faith Enoch was translated; by faith Noah built a boat; by faith Abraham left his home to find the promised land; by faith Sara gave birth to a child in her old age. The Scripture goes on to mention the faith of Jacob, Isaac, Joseph, Moses and many others. All of them were distinguished because their faith lead them to obedience and action. They had a living faith, and because of that living faith, they pleased God.
When we know what we believe, but do not follow that belief with obedience and action, it is not a living faith. It is a dead faith that does not produce miracles and is not pleasing to God.
Everywhere I go, I see religious people that are ready to expound on their faith and defend it well. When we magnify each jot of the law and wear it like a chain around ourselves and others, we have come under the bondage of death and the law. What we believe is important, but, what we do, and how we live is more important than quarreling over what we believe. All the Scriptures point to Jesus, and Jesus is summed up in one word...love. The Pharisees of Jesus' day wanted to argue over the finer points of the law, but, Jesus came to teach us how to live! Jesus said;
Luke 10:7 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as
yourself.
Does action follow your faith? If Godly actions follows your faith then you are a person that walks in acts of love and acts of kindness towards God and your fellow man. When we get so hung up over what we believe that we argue finer points of the law, we have made our faith our stumbling stone. Faith was meant to be a stepping stone to point us to Jesus, who would teach us to love God and love our neighbor. Our faith was never meant to be religious dogma that we wear like a weight around our necks. Our faith was meant to point us to God, it was not meant to be used as a measuring tool to condemn our fellow man. Faith leads us to love, and love never fails.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
God does put his kid's in TIME OUT
Most people want to be blessed by God. How do we obtain God's blessing? Once we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are God's children. God is our father, and he wants us to address him as father. The disciples asked Jesus to model a prayer for them and he opened the prayer by addressing God as 'Our Father, who art in Heaven...' God asked us to think of him as a father because he wanted us to see our relationship with him like a father and child.
And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Romans 8:17
So, as his children, how do we obtain his blessing? Just think of a father and a child. If a child gets angry and fusses and complains and carries on, how many of us as parents blesses our children for this kind of behavior? Most do not bless their children for this kind of behavior, most of us discipline our children and withhold blessings when they behave like this.
IF a child throws a fit because they did not get what they wanted, and questions our every decision and accuses us of being evil parents or being mean and harsh, unloving, uncaring...most of us do not reward this kind of behavior. This kind of behavior is more likely to get a spanking or a time out.
Have you ever felt like your life was in a time out? Have you ever felt like you pray and pray and pray, and nothing happens, nothing changes, you are just stuck in one spot. Look at the words coming out of your mouth when you are not praying. Look at the attitude of your heart. Look at what you say to others and to yourself. Sometimes the way we rant and rave and accuse and slander and carry on about our situation, we look just like a child that is mad and throwing a fit because we did not get our way. And God puts us in a time out, a rut, nothing much to do but sit in the same ole corners all the time, doing the same ole things.
If we want God to bless us, we are going to have to be a blessing to him! How do we do this? Think as a parent how your child blesses you. We feel blessed when our child does what we ask without slandering us or giving us a fuss about it. We feel blessed when our child says, "I love you" not only to our face, but to say "I love my mom or dad", to others when we are not there as well. Just imagine how many good things you would want to do for a child that started bragging on you all over town? Just imagine how much you would bless your child if they climbed up in your lap, and said, "you are the best." When was the last time you darkened the church door, to go to your Father's house? When was the last time you bragged on God to others? When was the last time you told someone else how good God was to you? When was the last time you spent time with your Father, just because you loved him?
If our kids behaved like this we would say, "Ok, what do you want?" And a lot of the time we would get them what they asked for, just for their effort...we know how to bless our parents to turn their favor towards us, but, we fail to understand that man was made in the image of God.
God is more likely to bless us, when we have been a blessing to him. As the psalmist said
"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name."
In this world, it pays to bless the LORD, not just with your mouth, but in the inner recesses of your heart. It is simple, a Father is more likely to bless a child that has blessed him, it is just that simple!
In Psalms 34 we see King David saying,
"I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
Now, someone may think, well, he must have been having a good day when he said this. Well, actually he was not having a good day, but a bad day. This was a Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. He had to pretend he was a mad man before the KING, or he would have lost his life. That is not a good day...Imagine having to pretend you were a mad man before the president of the USA, in order to save your life. Yep, not a good day, yet, he praises the LORD on this terrible day. Why? Because he understood that if he wanted his Father God to bless him, he was going to have to be a blessing to his Father.
We get a hang nail, and fuss and rant and rave and throw a fit. We get a flat tire and rail, and rage and complain and fuss...then we go to God and ask for a blessing...But, where we end up is in time out...a life in a rut that seems to never go anywhere, in time out. We end up in a time out because we deserved it, we needed it, we have a bad attitude that should not be rewarded!
Psalm 96 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all people.
The next time you think you had a bad day and you have earned a right to rant, and fuss, and cuss, and fume...just remember God is listening to you every minute of the day, he doesn't just hear our prayers, but he is attentive to us every minute of the day. Don't ask God for a blessing, when you KNOW you really need be in a time out! Bless God with your mouth, your attitude and your actions no matter what your situations, and you will find that in a little while, God will get you out of 'time out' and He will bless your life over and over again!
And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Romans 8:17
So, as his children, how do we obtain his blessing? Just think of a father and a child. If a child gets angry and fusses and complains and carries on, how many of us as parents blesses our children for this kind of behavior? Most do not bless their children for this kind of behavior, most of us discipline our children and withhold blessings when they behave like this.
IF a child throws a fit because they did not get what they wanted, and questions our every decision and accuses us of being evil parents or being mean and harsh, unloving, uncaring...most of us do not reward this kind of behavior. This kind of behavior is more likely to get a spanking or a time out.
Have you ever felt like your life was in a time out? Have you ever felt like you pray and pray and pray, and nothing happens, nothing changes, you are just stuck in one spot. Look at the words coming out of your mouth when you are not praying. Look at the attitude of your heart. Look at what you say to others and to yourself. Sometimes the way we rant and rave and accuse and slander and carry on about our situation, we look just like a child that is mad and throwing a fit because we did not get our way. And God puts us in a time out, a rut, nothing much to do but sit in the same ole corners all the time, doing the same ole things.
If we want God to bless us, we are going to have to be a blessing to him! How do we do this? Think as a parent how your child blesses you. We feel blessed when our child does what we ask without slandering us or giving us a fuss about it. We feel blessed when our child says, "I love you" not only to our face, but to say "I love my mom or dad", to others when we are not there as well. Just imagine how many good things you would want to do for a child that started bragging on you all over town? Just imagine how much you would bless your child if they climbed up in your lap, and said, "you are the best." When was the last time you darkened the church door, to go to your Father's house? When was the last time you bragged on God to others? When was the last time you told someone else how good God was to you? When was the last time you spent time with your Father, just because you loved him?
If our kids behaved like this we would say, "Ok, what do you want?" And a lot of the time we would get them what they asked for, just for their effort...we know how to bless our parents to turn their favor towards us, but, we fail to understand that man was made in the image of God.
God is more likely to bless us, when we have been a blessing to him. As the psalmist said
"Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name."
In this world, it pays to bless the LORD, not just with your mouth, but in the inner recesses of your heart. It is simple, a Father is more likely to bless a child that has blessed him, it is just that simple!
In Psalms 34 we see King David saying,
"I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
Now, someone may think, well, he must have been having a good day when he said this. Well, actually he was not having a good day, but a bad day. This was a Psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. He had to pretend he was a mad man before the KING, or he would have lost his life. That is not a good day...Imagine having to pretend you were a mad man before the president of the USA, in order to save your life. Yep, not a good day, yet, he praises the LORD on this terrible day. Why? Because he understood that if he wanted his Father God to bless him, he was going to have to be a blessing to his Father.
We get a hang nail, and fuss and rant and rave and throw a fit. We get a flat tire and rail, and rage and complain and fuss...then we go to God and ask for a blessing...But, where we end up is in time out...a life in a rut that seems to never go anywhere, in time out. We end up in a time out because we deserved it, we needed it, we have a bad attitude that should not be rewarded!
Psalm 96 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.
Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all people.
The next time you think you had a bad day and you have earned a right to rant, and fuss, and cuss, and fume...just remember God is listening to you every minute of the day, he doesn't just hear our prayers, but he is attentive to us every minute of the day. Don't ask God for a blessing, when you KNOW you really need be in a time out! Bless God with your mouth, your attitude and your actions no matter what your situations, and you will find that in a little while, God will get you out of 'time out' and He will bless your life over and over again!
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Just another toxic relationship!
There are few things worse in this life than a toxic relationship. Have you ever felt like a Samson? Have you ever felt like your life would have been right on track with a lot less drama and stress if it weren't for your mate! Why was Samson in a nightmare of a relationship? First he disobeyed God. The Israelites were not to marry anyone who wasn't an Israelite. This was God's commands to them for marriage. As Christians we are also told not to be unequally yoked. Second, he married her because of his need. He had a weakness of beautiful woman, and because of this need he ended up with a Delilah. When you read the story of Sampson and Delilah, you see what happens when a person with a need goes outside of God's will to get the need met. They end up with someone even needier than they are...and it destroys everything!
Proverbs 18:22
Whosoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD
If every relationship that you enter into seems to fail at some point along the way it is time to stop blaming the whole world and realize it is time for a change. I know someone is thinking, "But, it really isn't my fault, it really was all the other people that I was in relationship with." The one doing the hurting and the wrong, may have been the other people and not you, but still you are the one that keeps picking these kinds of relationships, you still bare some responsibility after all. If we keep picking the same 'type' of people, we will keep getting the same hurtful results! We go places we shouldn't go, and do things we should not do and end up getting into a relationship with immature and needy people, when we should have waited upon God to bring us the right relationship in the first place.
I have seen this over and over again. People who are in a relationship with someone because they have a need. If we have a need to be loved and cherished, we may fall for the first person that smiles at us. If we have a need to feel wanted, we may fall for the first person that is need of our assistance. If we have a need to dominate, we may fall for the first person that is submissive. If we have a need to have our ego brushed, we may fall for the first person that makes us look good...relationships based on need are dangerous! Often we begin searching early in life for that special someone that can fill that need whatever it may be! Sampson ended up with a Delilah because he had a need. In return he ended up with someone even more needy than he was...Delilah
Someone else will never fulfill your needs. If you find someone that tries, it is just a matter of time before they get all used up by the constant demands of your needs and move on. How many people are caught in that trap today? How many are caught in the trap of trying everyday to fulfill the needs in the life of their spouse, and knowing that if they don't all hell is going to break loose. It is good to be there for one another, but daily pressing to meet the needs of a needy individual can get old fast! When a relationship consist of silence, insults, quarrels, threats and dread it has gone toxic! I have counselled many people who go from toxic relationship to toxic relationship. You cannot change the whole world, you can only change yourself, so, it is obvious where the change needs to be!
It is an honor for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling. Proverbs 20:3
Here is an example of needy situations. One spouse wants to party all the time, and the other one has to pay all the bills. One spouse wants to dominate every thing and the other spouse gets no say at all. One spouse wants to play all the time and the other has to do all the work load. One spouse wants to criticize all the time, but the other doesn't get to return the favor without the first spouse getting mad... (need I say more, I think we all get the idea of what needy people are)
If you have a needy spouse that puts constant pressure on you to fulfill those needs whatever they may be, how do you get them to change and become less needy? The best way to get people around you to change is to change yourself. Why would your mate need to change if you are always meeting their need? Now I know someone is saying, "If I don't continue to fulfill the neediness of my spouse, it is going to be world war III! Just remember that without WWII, Hitler would have taken over. Has someone taken over your life? Sometimes refusing to meet the unreasonable needs of a selfish person is a necessary fight. You don't even give them a chance to change until you stop enabling them to continue their behavior! The more we enable people to abuse us by meeting the demands of their neediness, the more we tear them down, it is not building them up at all.
Every wise woman builds her house: but the foolish plucks it down with her hands. Proverbs 14:1
Why would a woman tear down her own home? Most would not do so on purpose. We do so unknowingly when we enable the people we love to live selfishly and abusively expecting us to make up the slack. Why do some girls always fall for the guy that 'drinks or drugs' all the money away? For some, it is because they have a need to redeem someone else, we feel sorry for them, we want to redeem someone, to salvage a life. Why do some girls always fall for the dominate type guy? For some it is because they have a need for safety, they want someone to bring them self, and things under control. Why do some guys fall for a girl that is always sleeping with their best friend? For some it is because they have a need for easy, loose woman. Why do so me guys always fall for a woman that spends all the money on clothes, and then spends some more? For some it was because they had a need to be with someone that made them look good.
Take whatever need you have that got you into a bad relationship in the first place, and ask God to fulfill that need and to change your heart. IF you don't take care of your own need, you are going to constantly pick relationships that fulfill that need, and you get one Delilah after another! Then, get up the courage to stop fulfilling the selfish and unreasonable needs of your partner and help them realize that they have a problem...fulfilling needs just makes people more needy...If we really want to help those around us, we will expect them to be responsible and reasonable.
Don't forget that Sampson ended up with a Delilah because he had a need. In return he ended up with someone even more needy than he was...Delilah...Don't let your needs ruin your life. It is time for a change, and let the first one to change always be ME!
Proverbs 18:22
Whosoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD
If every relationship that you enter into seems to fail at some point along the way it is time to stop blaming the whole world and realize it is time for a change. I know someone is thinking, "But, it really isn't my fault, it really was all the other people that I was in relationship with." The one doing the hurting and the wrong, may have been the other people and not you, but still you are the one that keeps picking these kinds of relationships, you still bare some responsibility after all. If we keep picking the same 'type' of people, we will keep getting the same hurtful results! We go places we shouldn't go, and do things we should not do and end up getting into a relationship with immature and needy people, when we should have waited upon God to bring us the right relationship in the first place.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways
acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6I have seen this over and over again. People who are in a relationship with someone because they have a need. If we have a need to be loved and cherished, we may fall for the first person that smiles at us. If we have a need to feel wanted, we may fall for the first person that is need of our assistance. If we have a need to dominate, we may fall for the first person that is submissive. If we have a need to have our ego brushed, we may fall for the first person that makes us look good...relationships based on need are dangerous! Often we begin searching early in life for that special someone that can fill that need whatever it may be! Sampson ended up with a Delilah because he had a need. In return he ended up with someone even more needy than he was...Delilah
Someone else will never fulfill your needs. If you find someone that tries, it is just a matter of time before they get all used up by the constant demands of your needs and move on. How many people are caught in that trap today? How many are caught in the trap of trying everyday to fulfill the needs in the life of their spouse, and knowing that if they don't all hell is going to break loose. It is good to be there for one another, but daily pressing to meet the needs of a needy individual can get old fast! When a relationship consist of silence, insults, quarrels, threats and dread it has gone toxic! I have counselled many people who go from toxic relationship to toxic relationship. You cannot change the whole world, you can only change yourself, so, it is obvious where the change needs to be!
It is an honor for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling. Proverbs 20:3
Here is an example of needy situations. One spouse wants to party all the time, and the other one has to pay all the bills. One spouse wants to dominate every thing and the other spouse gets no say at all. One spouse wants to play all the time and the other has to do all the work load. One spouse wants to criticize all the time, but the other doesn't get to return the favor without the first spouse getting mad... (need I say more, I think we all get the idea of what needy people are)
If you have a needy spouse that puts constant pressure on you to fulfill those needs whatever they may be, how do you get them to change and become less needy? The best way to get people around you to change is to change yourself. Why would your mate need to change if you are always meeting their need? Now I know someone is saying, "If I don't continue to fulfill the neediness of my spouse, it is going to be world war III! Just remember that without WWII, Hitler would have taken over. Has someone taken over your life? Sometimes refusing to meet the unreasonable needs of a selfish person is a necessary fight. You don't even give them a chance to change until you stop enabling them to continue their behavior! The more we enable people to abuse us by meeting the demands of their neediness, the more we tear them down, it is not building them up at all.
Every wise woman builds her house: but the foolish plucks it down with her hands. Proverbs 14:1
Why would a woman tear down her own home? Most would not do so on purpose. We do so unknowingly when we enable the people we love to live selfishly and abusively expecting us to make up the slack. Why do some girls always fall for the guy that 'drinks or drugs' all the money away? For some, it is because they have a need to redeem someone else, we feel sorry for them, we want to redeem someone, to salvage a life. Why do some girls always fall for the dominate type guy? For some it is because they have a need for safety, they want someone to bring them self, and things under control. Why do some guys fall for a girl that is always sleeping with their best friend? For some it is because they have a need for easy, loose woman. Why do so me guys always fall for a woman that spends all the money on clothes, and then spends some more? For some it was because they had a need to be with someone that made them look good.
Take whatever need you have that got you into a bad relationship in the first place, and ask God to fulfill that need and to change your heart. IF you don't take care of your own need, you are going to constantly pick relationships that fulfill that need, and you get one Delilah after another! Then, get up the courage to stop fulfilling the selfish and unreasonable needs of your partner and help them realize that they have a problem...fulfilling needs just makes people more needy...If we really want to help those around us, we will expect them to be responsible and reasonable.
Don't forget that Sampson ended up with a Delilah because he had a need. In return he ended up with someone even more needy than he was...Delilah...Don't let your needs ruin your life. It is time for a change, and let the first one to change always be ME!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
She may be blind, but at least she has arms!
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
He is a God of hope! Not only is he a God of hope, but he wants us to abound in HOPE. What does it mean to abound?
To abound means to occur or exist in great quantities, to be rich or well supplied, to be filled with...God can give you joy and peace in believing. People who practice of life of believing are not dark minded people. They are people that dream, and go after those dreams. They are people who face adversity and trials with perseverance because of their faith in God.
Look at the story of Joseph. He was favored by his father. He received a beautiful coat from his Father, a gift that none of his brothers received. He had dreams from God of blessings and the promise that he would rule over his household. What happened to Joseph? This world cannot tolerate anyone that is favored or blessed. Jealousy, anger, dark-minded individuals tried to steal his hope. He was sold into slavery by his brothers. Accused falsely by his employer's wife and sentenced to prison. Let in a jail cell and forgotten. Could there be anymore hopeless situation than what he was in, yet, he did not complain or give up. He maintained his hope in God.
When bad things happen to us we often ask why God allowed it. God certainly allowed a lot of bad things to happen to Joseph. If you look at the bad things as a means to an end, then you will be hopeless and angry, or possibly bitter. But, when you keep your eyes on the promise. God had given Joseph a dream, a promise, that he would one day be in a position of honor and respect. He was not seeing that come true, but, instead of giving way to despair he held on to the promise.
Joseph could not make the promise of God, nor the will of God come to pass. He was dependant upon God to make everything right in his life. When bad things happen, try to focus on where you are going, instead of where you are at.
I remember the day I gave birth to my daughter Angela that is multiple handicapped. I had a natural birth, no meds, no shots for the pain, and she was almost 9lbs! There was some concern with the pregnancy, so, I was watching in the mirrors as she was coming down the birth canal. The way that she positioned, it looked as if there were only holes in her body, and no arms there. Even my husband saw the same thing and thought...'she has no arms!' This was way back in the day and there had been no ultra sound done before birth, I didn't know the sex of the baby until she was born. Then as I kept pushing, suddenly both of her arms popped out and were extended to the right and the left. I realized then that she had been pushing against the wall with her might, and it had made gaps where her arms were, that looked like holes in her body, but there were no holes, she had arms! All I could do was thank GOD that my baby had arms. The doctors alerted me right away that she was not squinting at the lights, and her eyes were just rolling around, the possibility of blindness. I understood that, but, at that moment, I was so happy she had arms! At least she wouldn't be blind and armless as well. The point is no matter where you are at, it could be worse. See the hope and blessing in what you have.
What did Joseph have when he was falsely accused and thrown in prison to be forgotten? He still had a promise, a promise from God. Yes, it was only GODS WORD...but that was more than enough!
He is a God of hope! Not only is he a God of hope, but he wants us to abound in HOPE. What does it mean to abound?
To abound means to occur or exist in great quantities, to be rich or well supplied, to be filled with...God can give you joy and peace in believing. People who practice of life of believing are not dark minded people. They are people that dream, and go after those dreams. They are people who face adversity and trials with perseverance because of their faith in God.
Look at the story of Joseph. He was favored by his father. He received a beautiful coat from his Father, a gift that none of his brothers received. He had dreams from God of blessings and the promise that he would rule over his household. What happened to Joseph? This world cannot tolerate anyone that is favored or blessed. Jealousy, anger, dark-minded individuals tried to steal his hope. He was sold into slavery by his brothers. Accused falsely by his employer's wife and sentenced to prison. Let in a jail cell and forgotten. Could there be anymore hopeless situation than what he was in, yet, he did not complain or give up. He maintained his hope in God.
When bad things happen to us we often ask why God allowed it. God certainly allowed a lot of bad things to happen to Joseph. If you look at the bad things as a means to an end, then you will be hopeless and angry, or possibly bitter. But, when you keep your eyes on the promise. God had given Joseph a dream, a promise, that he would one day be in a position of honor and respect. He was not seeing that come true, but, instead of giving way to despair he held on to the promise.
Joseph could not make the promise of God, nor the will of God come to pass. He was dependant upon God to make everything right in his life. When bad things happen, try to focus on where you are going, instead of where you are at.
I remember the day I gave birth to my daughter Angela that is multiple handicapped. I had a natural birth, no meds, no shots for the pain, and she was almost 9lbs! There was some concern with the pregnancy, so, I was watching in the mirrors as she was coming down the birth canal. The way that she positioned, it looked as if there were only holes in her body, and no arms there. Even my husband saw the same thing and thought...'she has no arms!' This was way back in the day and there had been no ultra sound done before birth, I didn't know the sex of the baby until she was born. Then as I kept pushing, suddenly both of her arms popped out and were extended to the right and the left. I realized then that she had been pushing against the wall with her might, and it had made gaps where her arms were, that looked like holes in her body, but there were no holes, she had arms! All I could do was thank GOD that my baby had arms. The doctors alerted me right away that she was not squinting at the lights, and her eyes were just rolling around, the possibility of blindness. I understood that, but, at that moment, I was so happy she had arms! At least she wouldn't be blind and armless as well. The point is no matter where you are at, it could be worse. See the hope and blessing in what you have.
What did Joseph have when he was falsely accused and thrown in prison to be forgotten? He still had a promise, a promise from God. Yes, it was only GODS WORD...but that was more than enough!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Getting rid of low self esteem
Why do we lose hope so quickly? Often it is because we base our hope on our circumstances. When our circumstances are good we gain more hope. That is a natural thing to do. But, what if our circumstances are poor? Should our hope go up and down with our circumstance? If your hope goes up and down with your circumstances, you have never learned to put your hope in God. When the your trust in fully in good, bad situations will not move you, your heart is fixed on you hope in God.
Psalm 112: 5-7
He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
Humanist would have us believe that we are all just the product of our circumstances. God says we are so much more than that. God says we are the product of what we believe. Changing your circumstances is a powerful tool, but changing outward things does not address our inner needs. First we have a sin need, which can only be met by the blood of Christ. Second we have a self need, which is brought under control by applying what we believe to our lives. Jesus said, 'according to your faith so it will be unto you.' If your faith is weak, you will be weak. If your faith is strong, you will be strong. If your faith is scattered, you will be scattered. If your faith is solid, you will be solid. Jesus likened a man who acted upon his Word like a man who built his house upon a rock. The wind and the waves and the storms beat upon it, but the house still stood. We keep looking for an outside fix, to fix our inner needs, when really, only a change of heart will bring about the things we need for a true change in our lives.
For example, let's say someone is plagued with low self esteem. Let's say this person sees themselves as a loser. The humanist might say enroll them in College, change the outward circumstance to fix the inner need. But what happens if you go through 4 years of College and get your degree, and are better prepared, and yet, in your heart, nothing has changed, you still are plagued with feelings of inferiority, feelings that you are a loser. Even Christians who have given their lives to Jesus can feel this way. We have to not only deal with sin, we also have to deal with self.
How do we deal with self? We must go from a self conscienceness, to a God conscienceness. Look at David when he fought with Goliath. When he was considering if he could win the contest, did he self analyze? He did not look at himself to consider if he was capable of taking out the giant. He said, "My God will deliver him into my hands." When Saul questioned his talents, he did not brag on himself, instead he said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” He looked to what the Lord had done through him. He could have said, 'I am young, I have not trained as a soldier, I am small, I only have a sling as a weapon, I am just an errand boy' All of those things were true about him. Good thing he was God conscience, instead of self conscience!
We look at ourselves too much. This is why we think that there are impossibilities in life. When we develop a God conscious mindset, we will realize that there is no such thing as impossibilities. With man, there are limitations, but with God, all things are possible.
Psalm 112: 5-7
A
good man shows favor, and lends: he will guide his affairs with
discretion.
Surely he shall not be moved forever: the righteous shall be in
everlasting remembrance.He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
Humanist would have us believe that we are all just the product of our circumstances. God says we are so much more than that. God says we are the product of what we believe. Changing your circumstances is a powerful tool, but changing outward things does not address our inner needs. First we have a sin need, which can only be met by the blood of Christ. Second we have a self need, which is brought under control by applying what we believe to our lives. Jesus said, 'according to your faith so it will be unto you.' If your faith is weak, you will be weak. If your faith is strong, you will be strong. If your faith is scattered, you will be scattered. If your faith is solid, you will be solid. Jesus likened a man who acted upon his Word like a man who built his house upon a rock. The wind and the waves and the storms beat upon it, but the house still stood. We keep looking for an outside fix, to fix our inner needs, when really, only a change of heart will bring about the things we need for a true change in our lives.
For example, let's say someone is plagued with low self esteem. Let's say this person sees themselves as a loser. The humanist might say enroll them in College, change the outward circumstance to fix the inner need. But what happens if you go through 4 years of College and get your degree, and are better prepared, and yet, in your heart, nothing has changed, you still are plagued with feelings of inferiority, feelings that you are a loser. Even Christians who have given their lives to Jesus can feel this way. We have to not only deal with sin, we also have to deal with self.
How do we deal with self? We must go from a self conscienceness, to a God conscienceness. Look at David when he fought with Goliath. When he was considering if he could win the contest, did he self analyze? He did not look at himself to consider if he was capable of taking out the giant. He said, "My God will deliver him into my hands." When Saul questioned his talents, he did not brag on himself, instead he said, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” He looked to what the Lord had done through him. He could have said, 'I am young, I have not trained as a soldier, I am small, I only have a sling as a weapon, I am just an errand boy' All of those things were true about him. Good thing he was God conscience, instead of self conscience!
We look at ourselves too much. This is why we think that there are impossibilities in life. When we develop a God conscious mindset, we will realize that there is no such thing as impossibilities. With man, there are limitations, but with God, all things are possible.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The Keys to Finding HOPE!
Hope - According to Wikipedia, hope means to trust - expect - anticipate. What does it mean to put your hope in God? God's Word is God revealed. To put your hope in God means to put your hope in God's Word. The Bible says that God is not a man that he should lie. If God's Word is true, then we can put our hope in his Word. There are many keys to finding hope, but, we will talk about three very important ones: trust, expectations, and anticipations.
We have such a hard time trusting anyone in our culture. One thing Capitalism has done for us as a nation is made deception- scams profitable. The old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true, it is" resonates in the minds and hearts of most Americans. We have truly become a nation of skeptics, because there are so many half-truths and scams going on in the economic sector of our society. Profit is king in the USA. People will take advantage to get profit. This has had some negative effects upon us as a culture. Trust does not come easily to most Americans.
To hope, means to trust. We are born full of hope. There is nothing more precious than a wide eyed child that is full of hope, and trust. Jesus said that unless you become as a child you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. To truly have hope in God, we have to trust God. Hope isn't despair and depression, and giving up. Hope is believing, and praying and trusting. It is having the heart of a child when you truly can believe that 'all things work together for good'
Expectation. We have become a nation of negative expectation. We expect the worse from our government. We expect the worst from our churches. We expect the worst from our teachers, our congressmen, our fellow workers. As sad as it may seem, we also have gotten to the place as a nation in which we expect the worse from our family, and one another as well. Negative expectation kills hope. When you expect a child to fail, they will fail. When you expect a person to perform badly, they will perform badly. When you expect a spouse to cheat, they will cheat. How often is the performance of the people around us simply a product of our expectation of them.
I have worked with a lot with young people, especially troubled youth. What I have found is that when I convey to them that I believe the best of them, think good thoughts towards them, and expect that they will do well...this is often enough to make most of them want to live up to those standards. By their estimation, they cannot remember the last time someone believed in them, and had good thoughts towards them.
How often do we disappoint God with our expectations. When we lower our expectations, we are saying that God will have no impact. Can I expect the best of our government? Yes, because my God is more than able to handle the USA government, and He is the one that appoints leaders, he has it all under his dominion. Can I expect the best of our school teachers? Yes, because God has his hand upon our children, and God is the one that sends his angels to watch over them and to cause them to prosper. No matter what you are facing today, don't lose expectation that something good is bound to happen. To lose that expectation is to lose that child like heart that believes in the goodness of God!
And finally anticipation, what is it to anticipate something. I know a man that recently spent 17 years in prison, and was just released about four months ago. This person has spent his entire adult life in prison, so you can just imagine the shock of trying to integrate into a society that has changed over the past 17 years, and trying to learn how to cope in this current economy. He applied for SSI, and kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. He went to the mail box everyday, because of anticipation. It didn't come, and didn't come and didn't come. Did he stop anticipating? absolutely not. Eventually his family ran out of money and he was homeless. So, we let him sleep a few days at the church, until a government organization found him a hotel to stay in for a while. Did these oppositions keep him from anticipating his check. No. He speaks of how he will pay this one back, and that one back after he gets his check. He kept anticipating because he was certain, sure, trusting that the check, though it tarried, would eventually arrive. He finally got news that the check would arrive within the next 7 to 10 days.
This is how we should be with God's promises. Isn't his Word even more sure than a promise of a government check. Shouldn't we always be anticipating everyday that today may just be they day of my breakthrough! Shouldn't we push back every disappointment and delay and rest on a sure hope that God will not fail us?
Have you been putting your trust in God's Word? Have you had that eager expectation that goodness and mercy is following you? Have you anticipated the day that God's promise comes to fulfillment in your life? If you are falling short, don't forget, God isn't the only one believing in you, I believe in you too. You can do all things through Christ that strengthens you!
As the psalmist said Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you. Psalm 56:3
We have such a hard time trusting anyone in our culture. One thing Capitalism has done for us as a nation is made deception- scams profitable. The old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true, it is" resonates in the minds and hearts of most Americans. We have truly become a nation of skeptics, because there are so many half-truths and scams going on in the economic sector of our society. Profit is king in the USA. People will take advantage to get profit. This has had some negative effects upon us as a culture. Trust does not come easily to most Americans.
To hope, means to trust. We are born full of hope. There is nothing more precious than a wide eyed child that is full of hope, and trust. Jesus said that unless you become as a child you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. To truly have hope in God, we have to trust God. Hope isn't despair and depression, and giving up. Hope is believing, and praying and trusting. It is having the heart of a child when you truly can believe that 'all things work together for good'
Expectation. We have become a nation of negative expectation. We expect the worse from our government. We expect the worst from our churches. We expect the worst from our teachers, our congressmen, our fellow workers. As sad as it may seem, we also have gotten to the place as a nation in which we expect the worse from our family, and one another as well. Negative expectation kills hope. When you expect a child to fail, they will fail. When you expect a person to perform badly, they will perform badly. When you expect a spouse to cheat, they will cheat. How often is the performance of the people around us simply a product of our expectation of them.
I have worked with a lot with young people, especially troubled youth. What I have found is that when I convey to them that I believe the best of them, think good thoughts towards them, and expect that they will do well...this is often enough to make most of them want to live up to those standards. By their estimation, they cannot remember the last time someone believed in them, and had good thoughts towards them.
How often do we disappoint God with our expectations. When we lower our expectations, we are saying that God will have no impact. Can I expect the best of our government? Yes, because my God is more than able to handle the USA government, and He is the one that appoints leaders, he has it all under his dominion. Can I expect the best of our school teachers? Yes, because God has his hand upon our children, and God is the one that sends his angels to watch over them and to cause them to prosper. No matter what you are facing today, don't lose expectation that something good is bound to happen. To lose that expectation is to lose that child like heart that believes in the goodness of God!
And finally anticipation, what is it to anticipate something. I know a man that recently spent 17 years in prison, and was just released about four months ago. This person has spent his entire adult life in prison, so you can just imagine the shock of trying to integrate into a society that has changed over the past 17 years, and trying to learn how to cope in this current economy. He applied for SSI, and kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. He went to the mail box everyday, because of anticipation. It didn't come, and didn't come and didn't come. Did he stop anticipating? absolutely not. Eventually his family ran out of money and he was homeless. So, we let him sleep a few days at the church, until a government organization found him a hotel to stay in for a while. Did these oppositions keep him from anticipating his check. No. He speaks of how he will pay this one back, and that one back after he gets his check. He kept anticipating because he was certain, sure, trusting that the check, though it tarried, would eventually arrive. He finally got news that the check would arrive within the next 7 to 10 days.
This is how we should be with God's promises. Isn't his Word even more sure than a promise of a government check. Shouldn't we always be anticipating everyday that today may just be they day of my breakthrough! Shouldn't we push back every disappointment and delay and rest on a sure hope that God will not fail us?
Have you been putting your trust in God's Word? Have you had that eager expectation that goodness and mercy is following you? Have you anticipated the day that God's promise comes to fulfillment in your life? If you are falling short, don't forget, God isn't the only one believing in you, I believe in you too. You can do all things through Christ that strengthens you!
As the psalmist said Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you. Psalm 56:3
Monday, October 8, 2012
The unseen HOPE!
Romans 8
24 For
we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees,
why does he yet hope for?
25 But
if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
When someone wants to argue that hope does not precede faith, it is usually a religious spirit that has blinded them to the truth. A religious spirit does not want to do a work of faith, they want to do works of duty. They are duty oriented instead of faith oriented. A good example is when Jesus said to the Pharisees:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Matt 23:23
People with a religious spirit want to dot every i, and cross every t, and they will break the commandments of God to persecute anyone that does not do the same. They will overlook mercy, justice, and faith to talk against those who fail to dot every i and cross every t. They consider themselves better than these law breakers who forgot to dot their i's and cross their t's. They strain out the gnats, but swallow a camel in the process! These people are educated like the pharisees, prideful like the pharisees, and want to haggle over every minor jot of the Word of God. We need to let go of the haggling over words, and learn to love people again! They claim to know the deeper things of God like the Pharisees, they have a problem with unlearned men, thinking somehow that their schooling has qualified them to quarrel the finer points of the law. Who am I describing? I am describing the Pharisees of both Jesus' day, and the Pharisee's of today!
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Matt 23:23
People with a religious spirit want to dot every i, and cross every t, and they will break the commandments of God to persecute anyone that does not do the same. They will overlook mercy, justice, and faith to talk against those who fail to dot every i and cross every t. They consider themselves better than these law breakers who forgot to dot their i's and cross their t's. They strain out the gnats, but swallow a camel in the process! These people are educated like the pharisees, prideful like the pharisees, and want to haggle over every minor jot of the Word of God. We need to let go of the haggling over words, and learn to love people again! They claim to know the deeper things of God like the Pharisees, they have a problem with unlearned men, thinking somehow that their schooling has qualified them to quarrel the finer points of the law. Who am I describing? I am describing the Pharisees of both Jesus' day, and the Pharisee's of today!
It is so tiring to walk into a church service full of hope, and then leave feeling worse than you walked in, because there is a Pharisee in the pulpit that only knows how to preach the law, void of any of the grace, love and mercies of the Spirit. The pulpits of America are full of these ministers, that are quick to dismiss and discredit anyone who would dare to preach faith, hope, love or mercy! Jesus said this about them:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27
But how can we recognize these modern day hypocrites? They have the same attributes of the Pharisee in Jesus day, they attack people by name. They are fault finders, that are not satisfied with just preaching the Word, like I have done in this blog, and letting the Words fall wherever they lay. These fault finders go after people personally, by name, persecuting, and trying to destroy with personal attacks, just like they did to Jesus. Looking at people around them, trying to find something to trip them up, or to catch them at fault in either doctrine, deed or word, so that they can personally accuse them before other men. They have not the love nor the spirit of God, but have a religious spirit like the Pharisee. On the outside they look like the model Christian, they follow all the 'thou shalt nots' in the Bible to the T. They are threatened by anyone that carries the true anointing of God, and will attack it immediately, considering the real anointing, beneath them, they are too educated and dignified to partake of the real anointing of God. They certainly don't want mankind to be full of hope, because hope doesn't require education and endless haggling over the law to partake of. The truth is one man full of hope (Jesus) can do more than 100 educated men that want to spend their days haggling over every little letter of the law of God.
Does hope precede faith? As stated in the verse above, hope that is seen, is not hope at all. If we wait until we see evidence of God, and then that gives us hope, that is not hope at all, because we had proof evidence before the hope came. Hope is what sustains us, when we have no proof, no evidence. Once we are healed, it is no big DEAL that we are hopeful after that because the trial is over, the evidence of our healing is sound. Once we are saved if we are hopeful after that, it is no great thing, because everyone gets hope after they get saved. If we have a financial difficulty, and God gives us the finances to cover it, who doesn't have hope after they have seen the answer arise. That is NO BIG DEAL. But, when we are like Abraham, and against ALL HOPE, yet, in HOPE we believe, now we have reason to be commended before God! If you have a trial in your life, don't let depression steal your hope and don't let some Pharisee get you down either. Rise up and put your hope in God! Let that hope give you energy, excitement and perseverance! As the psalmist said:
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27
But how can we recognize these modern day hypocrites? They have the same attributes of the Pharisee in Jesus day, they attack people by name. They are fault finders, that are not satisfied with just preaching the Word, like I have done in this blog, and letting the Words fall wherever they lay. These fault finders go after people personally, by name, persecuting, and trying to destroy with personal attacks, just like they did to Jesus. Looking at people around them, trying to find something to trip them up, or to catch them at fault in either doctrine, deed or word, so that they can personally accuse them before other men. They have not the love nor the spirit of God, but have a religious spirit like the Pharisee. On the outside they look like the model Christian, they follow all the 'thou shalt nots' in the Bible to the T. They are threatened by anyone that carries the true anointing of God, and will attack it immediately, considering the real anointing, beneath them, they are too educated and dignified to partake of the real anointing of God. They certainly don't want mankind to be full of hope, because hope doesn't require education and endless haggling over the law to partake of. The truth is one man full of hope (Jesus) can do more than 100 educated men that want to spend their days haggling over every little letter of the law of God.
Does hope precede faith? As stated in the verse above, hope that is seen, is not hope at all. If we wait until we see evidence of God, and then that gives us hope, that is not hope at all, because we had proof evidence before the hope came. Hope is what sustains us, when we have no proof, no evidence. Once we are healed, it is no big DEAL that we are hopeful after that because the trial is over, the evidence of our healing is sound. Once we are saved if we are hopeful after that, it is no great thing, because everyone gets hope after they get saved. If we have a financial difficulty, and God gives us the finances to cover it, who doesn't have hope after they have seen the answer arise. That is NO BIG DEAL. But, when we are like Abraham, and against ALL HOPE, yet, in HOPE we believe, now we have reason to be commended before God! If you have a trial in your life, don't let depression steal your hope and don't let some Pharisee get you down either. Rise up and put your hope in God! Let that hope give you energy, excitement and perseverance! As the psalmist said:
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Faith that is not lacking
There are many people that live way below the faith level that they have in God. Is faith merely what you believe? In the American churches we have often replaced true faith, with doctrine. We have come to define faith as merely something that we believe when we pray. When you look at the Bible, most men and woman of the Bible had their faith push them way beyond praying. Look at Nehemiah for example. He had hope to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Sure, this hope lead him to prayer, but, it lead him beyond prayer as well. The hope he had within him lead him to stand up and take action. To ask the king for his blessing, for supplies, for permission to begin the work. Once the hope within him lead him to action his faith became sight! His faith to rebuild the walls, was the substance of what he had hoped for. You may think that sounds simplistic, easy, just a natural order of events, but believe me it is not easy or natural at ALL.
For instance, there are churches all over America with broken down walls. The kind of oppression and hopelessness that you will find within a church that hasn't been productive, and is not growing is a heavy weight. What can turn these churches around? Hope. Hope that eventually leads them to an action of faith. Remember what Jesus said about the mustard seed. He said that faith the size of a mustard seed could move the mountains in our lives. But, during the parable, the seed was planted and grew to be a large tree. This is the same with our faith. Mountain moving faith starts out as a small step forward, that leads to another step, that leads to another step...and with each step, hope increases and faith grows as well. Mustard seed faith in itself, won't move the mountains, but a mustard seed of faith planted in our hearts, that grows into a large tree will move the mountains.
It is so important to understand where you are at, before you begin moving forward into action. Going into a small church, where the people are defeated and have very little hope, and suddenly announcing a plan to win the entire city is going to be met with dismal response. Why? Because you are asking them to step out on faith, when they have little to no hope. I have seen instances where the better place to start is getting the body to value it's contribution, and the community to value it's contribution. One thing is for sure, if the members of the body and the community don't value the contribution of the church...attempts to reach the city will be in vain. I have seen pastors walk into a church with glorious plans to reach the lost, and it did not give me much hope...why? Because the church was a mess, and many things were being left undone. For instance, If you can't clean up the church and the parking lot, how will you ever reach the city. We look for huge advances and huge step forwards, when sometimes just getting up and doing what has been left undone is the first step that we should be take. What happens when we move forward, one small step at a time? Hope builds, which leads to actions of faith, which leads to a greater hope, and even greater actions of faith! There is no life that is so far gone and unproductive that God cannot change it around and give them future and a hope. The same is true for churches as well. Even a church that has been dormant and unproductive for decades, since it's inception is not without hope and without God. God is a catalyst for change, he can turn anything around. It will take faith, hope and love, and it will take more love than anything else!
Those things that you are overlooking in your life are the very things that God will use. Those talents you dismissed. That desire to do a work for God that you put on the back shelf because you thought you lacked what it took to get the job done. The same in our church. Those people that we wrote off as trouble makers and problems are the very ones that God is going to use to turn your church around! Why is it that we despise what we have, and are always looking for God to bring us something better? I see people sit on their duff, instead of getting up and taking the necessary steps to move forward in life, expecting that prayer alone is going to get them where they need to be. Noah did not save the world by prayer alone. Abraham did not find his new place to dwell by prayer alone. Joshua did not conquer Jericho by prayer alone. Moses did not deliver the children of Israel by prayer alone. Joseph did not deliver all of Egypt and the surrounding area by prayer alone! David did not defeat the giant by prayer alone! Instead of praying about what we DON'T have, we should get up and use whatever we do have. God used a rod in Moses hand. How special is a rod? They are a dime a dozen. Maybe what is in your hand is nothing special. Maybe you are like David and all the poor and the trouble makers is what you have to work with. God can take a trouble maker and make a mighty man of valor out of him! What do we do instead of latching on to hope and getting up and doing the best we can with what we have? What we do is sit back, and lay down in our circumstances, and complain, and make excuses for our lack of effort. God is not the God of excuses. I don't see one Bible story where a complainer, who had a lot of excuses did anything for God! If God can save the nation through a bunch of lepers, imagine what he could do with you!
2 Kings 7: 3-4
3Now there were four men with leprosyd at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 4If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
These lepers were sitting there, dieing from hunger. What happened? Hope sprang up in their hearts. They thought why sit here until we die! We all know the end of the story. God had caused the enemy army that was laying siege to the city to get afraid overnight and they all abandoned the camp, which was loaded with food. When the lepers went out to the camp, they found all this food, and the enemy army gone. They ate until they were full! Their hope of the enemy having compassion on beggars and feeding them lead them to an action. They got up and went out to the enemies camp. Once they got to the camp and found it empty and ate all they wanted their faith lead them to an even greater hope! Suddenly then began thinking, "Hey, maybe we can feed the whole city!" They did go back to the city, and all the people came and ate, God saved the city through four lepers! See how their hope and faith grew. First they thought lets save ourselves. That worked, and then they got the idea they could save the whole city.
Maybe you are looking at your life and you feel wasted like the lepers. Like your life has nothing of value to offer. Maybe you are looking at your church and thinking the same thing. I remember going into one church, all we had that claimed to be workers were two ladies, and one of them didn't work! Today we look back on that and laugh saying, "Remember when we only had two workers, except one of them didn't work." Try filling out a church report with that. Get to the statistics area. Salvation's 0, Baptisms 0, additional comments: Well, we do have two workers, but one of them don't work. Wow. That is not a lot to work with, but, God can take what you have if you will work where you are at. We want to work at higher levels, and ignore the level we are currently on. God saved an entire city through four lepers, just imagine the possibilities of what God could do with you!
For instance, there are churches all over America with broken down walls. The kind of oppression and hopelessness that you will find within a church that hasn't been productive, and is not growing is a heavy weight. What can turn these churches around? Hope. Hope that eventually leads them to an action of faith. Remember what Jesus said about the mustard seed. He said that faith the size of a mustard seed could move the mountains in our lives. But, during the parable, the seed was planted and grew to be a large tree. This is the same with our faith. Mountain moving faith starts out as a small step forward, that leads to another step, that leads to another step...and with each step, hope increases and faith grows as well. Mustard seed faith in itself, won't move the mountains, but a mustard seed of faith planted in our hearts, that grows into a large tree will move the mountains.
It is so important to understand where you are at, before you begin moving forward into action. Going into a small church, where the people are defeated and have very little hope, and suddenly announcing a plan to win the entire city is going to be met with dismal response. Why? Because you are asking them to step out on faith, when they have little to no hope. I have seen instances where the better place to start is getting the body to value it's contribution, and the community to value it's contribution. One thing is for sure, if the members of the body and the community don't value the contribution of the church...attempts to reach the city will be in vain. I have seen pastors walk into a church with glorious plans to reach the lost, and it did not give me much hope...why? Because the church was a mess, and many things were being left undone. For instance, If you can't clean up the church and the parking lot, how will you ever reach the city. We look for huge advances and huge step forwards, when sometimes just getting up and doing what has been left undone is the first step that we should be take. What happens when we move forward, one small step at a time? Hope builds, which leads to actions of faith, which leads to a greater hope, and even greater actions of faith! There is no life that is so far gone and unproductive that God cannot change it around and give them future and a hope. The same is true for churches as well. Even a church that has been dormant and unproductive for decades, since it's inception is not without hope and without God. God is a catalyst for change, he can turn anything around. It will take faith, hope and love, and it will take more love than anything else!
Those things that you are overlooking in your life are the very things that God will use. Those talents you dismissed. That desire to do a work for God that you put on the back shelf because you thought you lacked what it took to get the job done. The same in our church. Those people that we wrote off as trouble makers and problems are the very ones that God is going to use to turn your church around! Why is it that we despise what we have, and are always looking for God to bring us something better? I see people sit on their duff, instead of getting up and taking the necessary steps to move forward in life, expecting that prayer alone is going to get them where they need to be. Noah did not save the world by prayer alone. Abraham did not find his new place to dwell by prayer alone. Joshua did not conquer Jericho by prayer alone. Moses did not deliver the children of Israel by prayer alone. Joseph did not deliver all of Egypt and the surrounding area by prayer alone! David did not defeat the giant by prayer alone! Instead of praying about what we DON'T have, we should get up and use whatever we do have. God used a rod in Moses hand. How special is a rod? They are a dime a dozen. Maybe what is in your hand is nothing special. Maybe you are like David and all the poor and the trouble makers is what you have to work with. God can take a trouble maker and make a mighty man of valor out of him! What do we do instead of latching on to hope and getting up and doing the best we can with what we have? What we do is sit back, and lay down in our circumstances, and complain, and make excuses for our lack of effort. God is not the God of excuses. I don't see one Bible story where a complainer, who had a lot of excuses did anything for God! If God can save the nation through a bunch of lepers, imagine what he could do with you!
2 Kings 7: 3-4
3Now there were four men with leprosyd at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 4If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
These lepers were sitting there, dieing from hunger. What happened? Hope sprang up in their hearts. They thought why sit here until we die! We all know the end of the story. God had caused the enemy army that was laying siege to the city to get afraid overnight and they all abandoned the camp, which was loaded with food. When the lepers went out to the camp, they found all this food, and the enemy army gone. They ate until they were full! Their hope of the enemy having compassion on beggars and feeding them lead them to an action. They got up and went out to the enemies camp. Once they got to the camp and found it empty and ate all they wanted their faith lead them to an even greater hope! Suddenly then began thinking, "Hey, maybe we can feed the whole city!" They did go back to the city, and all the people came and ate, God saved the city through four lepers! See how their hope and faith grew. First they thought lets save ourselves. That worked, and then they got the idea they could save the whole city.
Maybe you are looking at your life and you feel wasted like the lepers. Like your life has nothing of value to offer. Maybe you are looking at your church and thinking the same thing. I remember going into one church, all we had that claimed to be workers were two ladies, and one of them didn't work! Today we look back on that and laugh saying, "Remember when we only had two workers, except one of them didn't work." Try filling out a church report with that. Get to the statistics area. Salvation's 0, Baptisms 0, additional comments: Well, we do have two workers, but one of them don't work. Wow. That is not a lot to work with, but, God can take what you have if you will work where you are at. We want to work at higher levels, and ignore the level we are currently on. God saved an entire city through four lepers, just imagine the possibilities of what God could do with you!
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Hope that Endures for all time
Yesterday we talked about hope preceding faith. Why is this so important? It is important because their are people today that need a miracle, and they are so focused on getting more faith, but do they really have a lack of faith at all? Jesus said if you have the faith the size of a mustard seed you could move mountains. The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds. It doesn't take a huge amount of faith to see great things, just a tiny seed that is planted in your heart and allowed to grow there. We have been taught in some Christian circles today that it takes a lot of faith to see the miracle working power of God. This is not what Jesus taught. Jesus compared a small bit of faith to a seed, that when planted in the heart grows into a huge tree. We put a stumbling block in people's path when we tell them that it takes huge faith to move mountains. Often faith is not where people are lacking, it is hope where they lack. You may think, if they had faith, they would have hope. Not necessarily, because it is our hope, that leads to faith, and that in return gives us greater hope, that leads us to greater faith... Is hope really that important?
In I Corinthians 13, we see that in the end there will be three things that remain, faith, hope, and love, with the greatest being love. We have heard a lot of teaching of faith, and a lot of teaching on love, but seldom does anyone teach on hope. How does hope precede faith? As we talked about yesterday, let's use the preaching of the Gospel as an example. Many people are without hope and without God in this world. When we preach the hope of the gospel, and share out testimony of God's power to change and impact lives, hope begins to rise within their hearts. Where did the hope come from? It came from us, we shared our hope with them, and hope came alive within their hearts too. Is hope enough to bring us to salvation. Hope is not enough all by itself. If someone hears my testimony, and then begins to have hope that their own life could be changed, they must act upon that hope. If someone is encouraged by my testimony, but walks away without putting their faith in that HOPE (which is Christ Jesus), they will walk away without having tasted salvation. When we share hope, and someone gains hope through what we have shared, and then they act upon that hope by confessing Christ, and believing in their heart, they will be saved. But what if hope never rises in their hearts? What if they do not hear the testimony of a changed life through Christ. Without hope, faith is unlikely to manifest. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the substance of what we have hoped for...the Bible says, "how can they believe if they have not heard.
This is why the enemy tries so hard to steal you hope, and to stop you from sharing your testimony. Your testimony spoken in faith gives hope to the hearer. Hope is such a powerful force that it is one of the three things that God said would remain. Guess what? Religion is going to cease. Prophecy is going to cease. Church buildings are going to cease. Titles of distinction are going to cease. Three things will remain: Faith, Hope and Love. If you don't have these three things, everything you have worked for will be lost, it will cease to exist one day. These three things should be the building blocks of your life. Religion shouldn't be our building block. Denomination shouldn't be our building block. Possessions shouldn't be our building block. Even our relationships should be built upon faith, hope and love. God is love, and faith and hope is how we connect with HIM!
Our hope is what causes us to endure to the end. The end of what? The end of out test, our journey on this earth. Our actions should be prompted by faith. What causes most people action? They act because of duty, not faith. They give out of duty, not because of faith. They pray out of duty, not because of faith. This is a religious bondage where duty replaces faith. Religious people will rationalize that duty is their faith. This is how the Pharisee in Jesus' day saw it as well. Jesus said, "unless your faith surpasses the Pharisee you will not see the kingdom of God."
Our labor should be prompted by love. When our labor of love becomes our attempt to show off, we have replaced our responsibility to love with our pride. As an example. It is our labor of love, to go to work, to provide for our family. Our work in life should be prompted by faith and motivated by love. Many people find themselves prompted by duty and motivated by pride...they work to get nicer things, to boast. Our work must be motivated by our love for others, not by our pride that wants to get ahead of others.
And our endurance should be secured by the hope that we have in us. Hope that we are making a difference for our family by being a good provider. In our society many have replaced hope with debt. What is debt? Debt is a type of condemnation. We must pay back a debt. There are people today that trudge along in their spiritual life, living out of a sense of duty, laboring because of pride. More concerned about what others will think if they don't labor making their labor in God a debt. And continuing on because of a sense of condemnation, trying to pay back a debt of guilt pleasing people around us instead of pleasing God. No wonder people are so depressed!
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thess. 1:3
There is a better way. Works that are brought on because of faith, not duty. Labor that is prompted by love, not pride, and a hope that causes us to endure, replacing the condemnation of spiritual debt, that motivates so many to continue on. When everything else is gone, these three things will remain: faith, hope and love. We should each make these three things the building block of our lives.
In I Corinthians 13, we see that in the end there will be three things that remain, faith, hope, and love, with the greatest being love. We have heard a lot of teaching of faith, and a lot of teaching on love, but seldom does anyone teach on hope. How does hope precede faith? As we talked about yesterday, let's use the preaching of the Gospel as an example. Many people are without hope and without God in this world. When we preach the hope of the gospel, and share out testimony of God's power to change and impact lives, hope begins to rise within their hearts. Where did the hope come from? It came from us, we shared our hope with them, and hope came alive within their hearts too. Is hope enough to bring us to salvation. Hope is not enough all by itself. If someone hears my testimony, and then begins to have hope that their own life could be changed, they must act upon that hope. If someone is encouraged by my testimony, but walks away without putting their faith in that HOPE (which is Christ Jesus), they will walk away without having tasted salvation. When we share hope, and someone gains hope through what we have shared, and then they act upon that hope by confessing Christ, and believing in their heart, they will be saved. But what if hope never rises in their hearts? What if they do not hear the testimony of a changed life through Christ. Without hope, faith is unlikely to manifest. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the substance of what we have hoped for...the Bible says, "how can they believe if they have not heard.
This is why the enemy tries so hard to steal you hope, and to stop you from sharing your testimony. Your testimony spoken in faith gives hope to the hearer. Hope is such a powerful force that it is one of the three things that God said would remain. Guess what? Religion is going to cease. Prophecy is going to cease. Church buildings are going to cease. Titles of distinction are going to cease. Three things will remain: Faith, Hope and Love. If you don't have these three things, everything you have worked for will be lost, it will cease to exist one day. These three things should be the building blocks of your life. Religion shouldn't be our building block. Denomination shouldn't be our building block. Possessions shouldn't be our building block. Even our relationships should be built upon faith, hope and love. God is love, and faith and hope is how we connect with HIM!
Our hope is what causes us to endure to the end. The end of what? The end of out test, our journey on this earth. Our actions should be prompted by faith. What causes most people action? They act because of duty, not faith. They give out of duty, not because of faith. They pray out of duty, not because of faith. This is a religious bondage where duty replaces faith. Religious people will rationalize that duty is their faith. This is how the Pharisee in Jesus' day saw it as well. Jesus said, "unless your faith surpasses the Pharisee you will not see the kingdom of God."
Our labor should be prompted by love. When our labor of love becomes our attempt to show off, we have replaced our responsibility to love with our pride. As an example. It is our labor of love, to go to work, to provide for our family. Our work in life should be prompted by faith and motivated by love. Many people find themselves prompted by duty and motivated by pride...they work to get nicer things, to boast. Our work must be motivated by our love for others, not by our pride that wants to get ahead of others.
And our endurance should be secured by the hope that we have in us. Hope that we are making a difference for our family by being a good provider. In our society many have replaced hope with debt. What is debt? Debt is a type of condemnation. We must pay back a debt. There are people today that trudge along in their spiritual life, living out of a sense of duty, laboring because of pride. More concerned about what others will think if they don't labor making their labor in God a debt. And continuing on because of a sense of condemnation, trying to pay back a debt of guilt pleasing people around us instead of pleasing God. No wonder people are so depressed!
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thess. 1:3
There is a better way. Works that are brought on because of faith, not duty. Labor that is prompted by love, not pride, and a hope that causes us to endure, replacing the condemnation of spiritual debt, that motivates so many to continue on. When everything else is gone, these three things will remain: faith, hope and love. We should each make these three things the building block of our lives.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Hope precedes Faith
Hope precedes faith. Anyone with a religious spirit is just really MAD that I just wrote that statement! People who are serving religion are some of the most discouraging, negative, depressing people out there. They find the BAD in everything! Is it possible to be a born again Christian, yet, still be serving religion. Yes, it is very possible!
Does hope really precede faith? Someone may argue, faith comes first, and then because of faith, you gain hope. Well, that does happen, because we go from faith to faith, but, hope does precede faith. The Bible says that the message that we preach is that of hope in Jesus Christ for eternal life.
Titus 1:1-3
Does hope really precede faith? Someone may argue, faith comes first, and then because of faith, you gain hope. Well, that does happen, because we go from faith to faith, but, hope does precede faith. The Bible says that the message that we preach is that of hope in Jesus Christ for eternal life.
Titus 1:1-3
1Paul,
a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of
God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after
godliness;
2In
hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the ages
began;
3But
has in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto
me according to the commandment of God our Savior;
When we preach the Gospel which is the Good News of the hope that we have through Jesus Christ, it causes the hearer to have hope in God, hope in salvation, hope in deliverance, hope in eternal life. We express our hope, and it becomes their hope. Once this hope has been birthed in their heart faith comes to life only as they confess with their mouth and believe in their hearts. The Bible says, how can they be saved if they have not heard! Hope springs up in the heart of the listener when we preach Christ Jesus! If you are not preaching the hope of the gospel, don't expect many conversions! People are hopeless in this world, lost, and trying to get by the best that they can. The Bible says for us to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in us.
Once hope has sprang up within our hearts, and we add the action of faith by confessing Christ with our mouth, and believing with our hearts we are saved! We had hope first, and that hope lead us to faith! How did we get that hope, we got it when someone preached the GOSPEL! The preaching of the gospel brings hope to mankind! Once salvation grips our souls through the faith that sprung up from that hope, then even more hope floods our hearts...and this hope leads to an even greater faith, faith that will be expressed through our ACTIONS...as the Bible declares, we go from glory to glory!
It is like a never ending cycle. Hope leads to faith, and then the faith gives us even more hope, which leads to greater faith, and that leads to an even greater hope... Be a hope giver to others! We are called to hold out the HOPE of the Gospel!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Four things that destroy
Is life hard? Is living for Jesus hard? Is succeeding hard? Is finding happiness hard? These questions are like a lot of other questions in life. Everyone has an opinion, but, an opinion is the result of your own life view. What we see today in politics, in the church, and in personal lives is people have opinions, but, they lack having convictions. An opinion is swayed by emotions, and changing tides. Conviction on the other hand is a moral standard, principles by which you live by. The constitution that we live by in America is more than just an opinion, it is the conviction of men that sat down and drafted it. Changing the constitution can be done, but, it is not done easily. We lack men, woman, boys and girls of conviction today. Our society today has become people lacking conviction that just does whatever they feel like doing at any given time or moment of the day.
Along with conviction is your word. A man's word used to be his bond. We are living in a generation that is careless with their words. If we knew that everything that we spoke was going to be requied of us, we would have a lot less talking heads in America. We are a generation of promise breakers, and we spout words off like they are nothing.
God's Word, the Bible is my conviction. I will speak it, live it, teach it to others, and guide my daily actions by it, even if it is not the most comfortable thing to do. God's Word is wisdom, and when we live by his Word, we find that our lives begin to conform to blessings, and peace within.
What has our generation done? What are a few of the philosophies that are destroying us?
1. I will follow my own heart and let it guide me.
Most of the people that I know today that are in a real mess in life got in that place by following the desires of their own heart. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9 Jesus said over and over again. "FOLLOW ME" The psalmist said, I will follow the precepts of God, I will follow the straight path of the principles of God. We must follow in the path of Jesus, and not our own hearts.
2. I will do what makes me happy, and please myself.
Some of the unhappiest people I know are people who lived their lives to make themselves happy. Doing exactly what they wanted when they wanted. God says in Isaiah 65:2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, who walk in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; We need to make God happy and to please the LORD. Moses said to the people: In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it.
3. No one is going to tell me what is right for me, I'll decide myself what is right for me.
Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, says the LORD, that take counsel, but not from me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: If we would look back over the course of our lives it was when we became rebellious towards our parents, toward society, towards our teachers, towards our responsibilities that the troubles and bad attitudes crept into our lives. Is it possible to be 40, 50, 60 years old, and yet still be rebelling against the things that would bring us peace? Yes, some people never learn. I see mothers of young children who say, I will do what's right for me, no one tells me what's right for me, except me. When I hear them say it, I know the young child they are raising is going to adopt the same philosophy. When that young mother has a teenage child that has adopted her same rebellious mindset, she will begin to see how foolish it really is to think this way.
4. When I party, and get drunk and so forth, I'm not hurting anyone but myself.
I am responsible for no one but myself, if you don't like my actions, too bad.
Try telling this to a family that has someone that is abusing drugs or alcohol, or in trouble with the justice system. We deceive ourselves when we think that our actions have no consequence on the people around us. Remember Cain, who killed his brother Abel. He said to God, "Am I my brother's keeper?" When we have the attitude that our actions are ours alone and we do not think we impact others we are living in a fantasy world, causing destruction for everyone around us.
Jesus boiled down life in two commandments:
Matthew 22: 37-40
37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’b 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’c 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The truth is, we put God and others before ourselves. This would solve the problems of marriages, nations, kingdoms. Love God, and love others. It isn't that hard to understand, we just have to lay down our selfishness. Think about how much better this world would be if we would just obey Jesus.
Along with conviction is your word. A man's word used to be his bond. We are living in a generation that is careless with their words. If we knew that everything that we spoke was going to be requied of us, we would have a lot less talking heads in America. We are a generation of promise breakers, and we spout words off like they are nothing.
God's Word, the Bible is my conviction. I will speak it, live it, teach it to others, and guide my daily actions by it, even if it is not the most comfortable thing to do. God's Word is wisdom, and when we live by his Word, we find that our lives begin to conform to blessings, and peace within.
What has our generation done? What are a few of the philosophies that are destroying us?
1. I will follow my own heart and let it guide me.
Most of the people that I know today that are in a real mess in life got in that place by following the desires of their own heart. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9 Jesus said over and over again. "FOLLOW ME" The psalmist said, I will follow the precepts of God, I will follow the straight path of the principles of God. We must follow in the path of Jesus, and not our own hearts.
2. I will do what makes me happy, and please myself.
Some of the unhappiest people I know are people who lived their lives to make themselves happy. Doing exactly what they wanted when they wanted. God says in Isaiah 65:2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, who walk in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; We need to make God happy and to please the LORD. Moses said to the people: In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply: and the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it.
3. No one is going to tell me what is right for me, I'll decide myself what is right for me.
Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, says the LORD, that take counsel, but not from me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: If we would look back over the course of our lives it was when we became rebellious towards our parents, toward society, towards our teachers, towards our responsibilities that the troubles and bad attitudes crept into our lives. Is it possible to be 40, 50, 60 years old, and yet still be rebelling against the things that would bring us peace? Yes, some people never learn. I see mothers of young children who say, I will do what's right for me, no one tells me what's right for me, except me. When I hear them say it, I know the young child they are raising is going to adopt the same philosophy. When that young mother has a teenage child that has adopted her same rebellious mindset, she will begin to see how foolish it really is to think this way.
4. When I party, and get drunk and so forth, I'm not hurting anyone but myself.
I am responsible for no one but myself, if you don't like my actions, too bad.
Try telling this to a family that has someone that is abusing drugs or alcohol, or in trouble with the justice system. We deceive ourselves when we think that our actions have no consequence on the people around us. Remember Cain, who killed his brother Abel. He said to God, "Am I my brother's keeper?" When we have the attitude that our actions are ours alone and we do not think we impact others we are living in a fantasy world, causing destruction for everyone around us.
Jesus boiled down life in two commandments:
Matthew 22: 37-40
37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’b 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’c 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The truth is, we put God and others before ourselves. This would solve the problems of marriages, nations, kingdoms. Love God, and love others. It isn't that hard to understand, we just have to lay down our selfishness. Think about how much better this world would be if we would just obey Jesus.
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