https://www.dropbox.com/s/z9a9lsl4dxkfr34/Let%20God%E2%80%99s%20Word%20Speak.docx?dl=0
Monthly Archives: November 2014
Trying to be……
Trying to be……
1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
If there is one thing I am sure of after just over a year as a lay pastor, Satan attacks where you preach. This test has been almost a weekly occurrence, and that makes tackling the difficult subjects increasingly tough. Ministry is very lonely in itself, and Satan uses that as a prop to open the door to depression since the doorframe of depression is solitude. I have suffered with severe depression attacks over the recent weeks; it is seemingly a vicious circle that few understand. Only those with the condition can articulate, and only someone in full time ministry can comprehend the weight and spiritual warfare that full time ministry brings. The only reason I have not bailed to a simpler life is the calling God has placed on my life. I must answer to Him alone for all eternity; that is how I relate to the apostle Paul. Acts 9:16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Has God laid a ministry on your heart? Has God showed you something that you know you were supposed to be doing, and you acted like you didn’t hear him? Are you running from God? You will have to answer for these decisions for an eternity; why you did or did not do what he called you to do. You will stand before Him and give an account for your life; “What did you do with the knowledge of my Son”, he might say. “Why did you run from what I gave you,” he might ask. Do you see where John is speaking of these things in the passage above? You could not only be ashamed of how sinful your life was, but for denying a call of God for your short time here. This short life is simply a preparation for an eternal one; one where you either reap the rewards or suffer the punishment; you must realize the simplicity of that statement.
We are going to be starting a series through the epistle of 1st John at Lakehaven Church. The title of the series is, “Give till it hurts.” We will be studying the epistle and looking how we are called to love, live, and give of ourselves as Christians. We are going to be doing self-evaluations; how do our lives measure up as this epistle sets the bar. Are we abiding in Christ? 1 John 2:6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Are you living to the best of your ability as a Christian? Are you being obedient to God’s will for your life each day? Isn’t that what Jesus did was abide for only each day? Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Try to take today, just today alone, and give of yourself to Him completely. Tell him in prayer that you are his for the day. Seek to abide and be obedient to what He lays on your heart for today. If he comes back tomorrow, you will not be ashamed.
Anti cruise-control
Anti cruise-control
Romans 5:3-4 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
I use the cruise-control on my truck whenever I can. I honestly have a “need for speed” and have the record at the DMV to prove my lack of ability to obey the suggested speed limits; I meant to say laws :-). Cruise control keeps me rolling along at a ho-hum pace without the focus, thrill, and many times “situations” that require undivided attention. Now I am not opening up for you to blast my lack of regard in so many ways, I am just being honest and using this analogy to ask you if you are on cruise-control as a Christian? Have you settled into the ho-hum lifestyle of religiosity that allows you to feel good about yourself as a Christian, just because you go to church and say a prayer or read your Bible sometimes? Think of how Jesus condemned the religious all through the gospels. Religion is a prideful self-made beast that will condemn if you believe in it is found the key to heaven through what you accomplish by it’s laws.
I would challenge you to find someone who has come through a low point in their lives, and them to not point you to their closeness to God during that time. Many times after He has delivered us to the other side of that trial of life, we crave the intimacy that we found with him during the tribulation he either allowed or designed. We crave not that pain, but we crave how that pain showed us a side of God that maybe we had not seen. We crave hearing from God in prayer, his Word, and encouragement from his saints and through God-orchestrated circumstances. We crave how close we saw and felt Him during that trial of life. That is this hope that is built into and strengthened that Paul writes of: Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Perseverance is a mountain that draws closer to God once step at a time. Perseverance is a character trait that God instills in the heart during sanctification that may come in big things or many times the repetitiveness of the minute. Perseverance is something that He instills in the heart that seeks to abide in him for the day. Perseverance is something that He instills in the heart that seeks to obey and remain in the center of his will for our life. We come to know that He is allowing whatever we may be facing, no matter how big or small; we must look at how we can draw closer to him through each day of our life. A life on cruise-control is never a life that experiences all that God has in store for them. Turn it off and focus on the road ahead with Him.
Sermon Link: The Same Level
Sermon Link:
Preaching from a partial manuscript & outline.
Studying Romans 14
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0bgfy55oo9t0ujf/Romans%2014.docx?dl=0
Encouragement
Encouragement
John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
I was incredibly close to stepping down from pastoral ministry last week. Satan had been increasingly firing his flaming arrows and the strains of ministry were truly wearing me down. Satan is the author of fear, and he uses doubt as a powerful tool in his arsenal against me. I was wounded heavily, and questioned everything. I opened up my heart from the pulpit and plead for prayer and encouragement. This week God has spoken to me in many ways and provided the encouragement that I needed to stand again. I have seen fruit from the ministry He gave me, and it has helped me to regain the strength to fight the good fight. I have been encouraged very directly in God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit has been revealing truth and opening up my mind to glimpses of what he may have planned for me. Encouragement brought by God through his Word and his saints when I needed it the most; thank you Jesus.
Jesus was telling his disciples he was leaving them. He was speaking of his return and the gift of the Holy Spirit that was coming to those who believed. He was encouraging them for their time to come as his friends; he was telling them how much he loved them in so many ways. He was telling them the hard truth; how they would not only abandon him, but even would be persecuted and die for their faith. Just after this verse above, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed his longest prayer recorded in the gospels. John 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
This passage in John 16 is difficult for smiling preachers and prosperity gospels; Jesus himself says that we will have tough times for our short time this side of paradise. But wound up in that passage is the peace of one that understands their salvation and that the tribulations of this world are truly temporary. How could you ever enjoy the ocean with the fear or pain of hot sand? God uses all the tough times in life to point you to your need for him. You do one of two things; you get mad at God and flee from him, or you see your need for him and draw near. Both of these can have eternal consequences, but also rewards.
Don’t look at me
Don’t look at me
1 Corinthians 1:17-18 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
What gets you up every morning? Is it the required duties of the day, or the expectancy of life for the day? I mean we all have our tasks list for each day that may tug us out of bed, but there is more to life in that awakening. People ask me why I get out of bed so early each day; it is the expectation of meeting God each and every day. It is in that expectancy that I find life; it is in that expectancy that I find more than a task list, it is where I find God. Do you ever wonder why you have heard the Bible called the Living Word? The wonder will be erased once the Holy Spirit opens it up to you in that way. Sitting down with God’s Word and being shown exactly what you were looking for is a gift from God for that day. How could you not arise out of bed early to look for the gift from God like a kid does at Christmas?
The apostle Paul is writing here addressing division in the church. The people were murmuring about who they followed (Paul, Cephas, & Apollos); they were dividing the church arguing their preacher was the best. Paul saw how they were elevating their preachers and themselves, and how Christ was taking a back seat to their pride. 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? My testimony before Christ was one rooted in pride; pride is the root of all sin even as far back as when Satan was cast out of heaven because he wanted to be like God. Paul was showing them their sin in their arguing who was best; Paul was showing them that only Christ and the good news that he brought should be the focus. It is not about you, it is all about Him.
Once you realize how little you are and how big He is; how lost you are without Him; your heart will begin to stir and your relationship with your Lord and Savior will begin to grow. There is nothing special about any pastor out there that does anything above delivering the Gospel. No anointing, no “word from God,” no prophecy, no “thing” will every surpass what Christ did on the Cross for all eternity. I am a simple lay pastor, an uneducated country boy that graduated high school on straight D’s, I can never play the scholarly card. That makes me nothing special, but makes anything he does through me extraordinary. He can and will do the exact thing for you. All you must do is to pursue him daily through prayer and his Living Word that he has given you.
Lord I seek you
Lord I seek you
John 15:7-8 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
One of my favorite pastors Dr. Adrian Rogers once said, “Preach with anguish, not anger.” I have also been told that week after week I will pour out my heart pleading for people to “get it,” and I must begin to understand that they won’t. I cannot begin to explain the weight of these…… It does not matter where God has you in your Christian walk, once you “get it,” your life is never the same. You desire so much for others to see and know Jesus as you do. You desire to spend time with God in prayer and his Word so that you may feed more on this knowledge of him. It is evident to all that are around you that something has changed. If your life is no different that when you became a Christian, are you a Christian at all?
You can sign a card, say a prayer, attend any elevated worship service you wish, but if you are not spending daily time with God in prayer and his Word, you are not a disciple of his. You cannot be a disciple if you are not spending daily time with God. Only his disciples will bear fruit of his, and if you are not bearing fruit……you had better read John 15. Christ’s last words to us as he ascended into heaven were to “go and make disciples.” Go and share your faith with all that will hear and bring the Good News that he came and died to save the world from sin. That is one simple sentence that describes being a disciple, sharing the Gospel, and producing fruit. If that is what Jesus has commanded that you do, are you obeying him?
Your life will never change until you spend daily time with God in prayer and his Word.
If you will only understand this one thing, this one thing will change everything in your life.
Lord I seek you
I want to be closer today,
Lord I seek you.
Show me the way.
Lord I seek you
Lead me where you may,
Lord I seek you
Show me each day.
Lord I seek you
In your Word you will show
Lord I seek you
As your disciple I go.
Lord I seek you
In prayer you will guide
Lord I seek you
My life to abide.
Go….live…share
Go….live…share
2 Corinthians 10:7-11 Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even so we are Christ’s. 8 For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed– 9 lest I seem to terrify you by letters. 10 “For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.” 11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.
The apostle Paul was an incredibly educated man. He has studied under the greatest scholars, and his knowledge of God’s Word and how to speak were likely unsurpassed. Paul could sway a crowd in any direction that he wished. His letters to the churches were many times weighty and convicting to those who read them, but when he came to town he preached the simplicity of the gospel. His preaching was being attacked by the religious of the day; they said he was hiding behind a pen and likely contemptible in some way. Paul took offense, and knew that God was doing a greater work in the sanctification process of Paul than anyone else understood. God was chipping away at Paul’s pride one big blow after another. Paul never wanted to draw any attention to himself; he had seen Jesus and understood just how little anything that was measured by earthly means meant in eternity. All that mattered to Paul was to share the good news that he had obtained; that salvation was available to everyone, and he as the chief of sinners was the proof to all that would listen.
I look back on my life, and realize how much I understand how Paul felt. I am not “edjumicated”, but I too lived a life full of sin until I saw Jesus and grasped the gospel. I did not have an experience on the road to Damascus, but I responded by accepting the free gift of grace He died for, and realizing that this life was all in preparation for the next. My heart hurts when I see so many that are wound up in the world, wound up in religion, or would up thinking that the world revolves around them. When you truly begin to understand how lost you are without Jesus as your savior and Lord of your life, you begin to live your life for the One who gives you life. You will begin to have a desire from deep within that prods you to share your faith and the gospel that saves. You will begin to realize that church is not about you, but the lost that have found their way there. You will begin to worry only what you can do for Jesus out of a response to the love He has shown you. You will begin to only give yourself to Him for the day, and to try and not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow may never come.
Paul is only worried about living his life for Christ. Paul is only worried about being the same in person as he is on paper. Are you the same person outside of the church for that hour on Sunday morning? Are you living your life with eternity in mind? Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Do that for today; live for Him today; be the person He wants you to be wherever your feet find you today. Share the Good News that Jesus Christ came for everyone; everyone that will repent and believe in him shall be saved. Go…live….share.
Your heart not your hands
Your heart not your hands
John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“Well, I am gonna pour this concrete basement for our new house. I can do it all by myself, and I will save a few steps by just using the concrete and skipping the water that goes with it……”. I tried to think of an example of something in so many ways that could not be accomplished alone. Being in construction for over 20 years, a basement prep and pour is just about impossible alone, and concrete without the water, everyone knows just will not work. You will have a gray, dusty, sandbox, but when the mix is combined with water it changes states and becomes concrete. The concrete and water abide together; without each other they cannot accomplish the task, or in relation to the scripture, bear fruit.
In your mind you may think what you are going to do for Jesus. Ask yourself what you think the creator and sustainer of this world and everything in it might really need you to do. Jesus just wants your heart; he wants you to seek him with all your heart and let him show you what he may want you to do. Abiding is being in the presence of Jesus continually; abiding is a “state of being.” Remember the story of Martha and Mary? Luke 10:38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Mary did not seek to see what she could do for Jesus, she just sought Jesus’ presence. She sought him with her heart, not her hands.
A spine of my ministry is always spending daily time with God. If you seek God daily in prayer and his Word, you will abide in him. You will bear much fruit, for you are not doing Christianity alone. Rivers of Living water will flow from you and people will be drawn to what they see in you. God will continue to prepare you for his service through pruning and making you grow more and deeper into the Vine. All of your life for him begins with how much you seek him each, and every day. You need to abide, and that is really all you need to focus on and not what your hands want to do for him. Get your heart to that abiding state, and the Vinedresser will prepare your hands.
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