Monday, November 19, 2012

Repentance

Prayer: Father, today I praise You that the substance of my faith is measurable in tangible ways. While I know that works will never save me, I thank You that my salvation will by necessity change the way I live. Help me, on this day, to demonstrate the reality of true repentance, both in my attitudes and actions.

Protect me from bitterness over the consequences of my sins and give me the strength to honor You as a new creation in Christ. Thank You for giving me grace that is always sufficient. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Key word reading: “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.” Matthew 3:8

This morning while reading the word of God I was giving thought to a lesson we were talking about yesterday in church. We see so many people saying such things as Jesus saved me or how I love God and what he did for me, or how he’s helped me.

But in the fact many of these folks truly never show any changes outside of Church or show no changes in their lifestyles of how they live nor give up the things in their live that should not be their. The reason is because of no true repentance of what they do, live or of things they say.

True Repentance is never easy. Flimsy excuses, self-righteous blame, and blind justification often minimize our behavior as anything but sin, leaving us negotiating with God to justify our actions, rather than pleading for His forgiveness. 

Apparently, the Pharisees and Sadducees caught the eye of John the Baptist as he preached in the wilderness, evoking a sharp rebuke for the hypocrisy of their self-righteousness.

His words cut us as well, for they serve as a reminder that the evidence of repentance is not mere confession, grief, or adherence to religious standards that are often void of heart transformation.

To the contrary, life change, both inside and out, is the ultimate mark of a genuine abandonment of sin and turning toward God. The broken person knows he does not deserve forgiveness and will forsake his pride and sin in order to receive it.

Good deeds born out of humility are the fruit of repentance. Religious activity, extensive sacrifice, and even diligent prayer may or may not meet this criterion.

Ultimately, the key is not what people think about you, but what God knows about you. Is repentance something you do, or is it a reflection of who you are?

True repentance comes from a sorrowful heart and the real change is on the inside, and not just on the outside. Amen

Friday, October 5, 2012

Do you have the Right Heart?

Lord, as I begin this new day, thank You for the gift of a good night’s sleep as well as the opportunity of a new day. I want to simply say that I love You this morning and I praise You for the way You love me unconditionally.

Help me to love You more today than yesterday, and even more than ever before. May my heart be fully focused on You today and may I love as a fully devoted follower that unashamedly bears Your witness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

“Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!”
PSALM 119:2

I was thinking this morning of how our hearts should be, and after talking to a Grandmother yesterday when she called me crying about her grandson who is hooked on herion and the things he said to me about the Christians he was around and how many looked down on him.

He told me if they were suppose to be Christians, then why are they not acting as one and love me for who I am instead of talking about me and looking down at me, and treating me like I am nothing I know I have a problem but yet they are rude to me, What Hypocrites they are, why did they do that, it hurt me and turn me away. Now you tell me why should I even go to church or even listen to them because of they way they acted, you tell me?

Folks this should not be so, How many of us know that a divided heart will kill a relationship? Half-hearted Christianity has done its share of damage to the church as it pertains to meeting the needs of a lost and dying world.

When Jesus was asked to declare the greatest commandment in the Word of God, He gave us Matthew 22:37,38: “Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ This is the first and great commandment.”

To the believer, nothing is more important than loving Jesus with all your heart. How each of us needs an undivided heart that is guarded by the testimonies of our Lord, meaning the things that God witnesses. A whole-hearted commitment to the Lord and His Word will put our lives together.

Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it;
unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

Listen to the truth of Jeremiah 24:7: “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that
I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.”

So please, do as our Lord commands us to do, love others no matter what they are as much as you would love yourselves. Show Love to a drug addict or anyone for the fact and let them know that God loves them just as they are, he has a loving Heart to let all come to him and any who wants to accept Jesus Christ as their savior.

But this action in love you can show a hurting person what the love of Jesus Christ is all about, so before you look down on a person for what they are, remove the 4X4 out of your eye first and remember this, your were their once and someone love you enough to pray for you right? Think about it. Amen

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Looking Up

Are you In Over Your Head?

Save me, 0 God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. PSALM 69:1-2

Ever feel like you’re in over your head? David expressed that very sentiment in this passage. His accusers despised him solely because of his devotion to God (see 69:7). They actually plotted to kill him. Feeling the sting of scorn and shame, David saw no way out.

Like a person in quicksand, he sank rapidly into despair. Anyone who has ever been overwhelmed with fear and distress knows that a single step into the mire creates a vortex. Unless someone comes to our rescue, we’re destined to take a ride down a slippery slide. . . and it’s not a fun one, either.

Sin is a sucking force that pulls us into the depths of hopelessness. Whether it’s our own sin or the sins of others, iniquity provides no traction to gain our footing. But in his despair, David knew who to call.

He cried out to his Creator, the only One with the power to reverse sin’s deadly pull. Next time you get in over your head; learn from the psalmist who pleaded, “Save me, 0 God.” Then look up, because help is on its way.

Help is with him and not in the flesh if we allow ourselves to trust him and follow his ways. When we let God be our pilot in our lives, he can never steer us wrong. So no matter how bad things are, how deep they may be, always look up and he is their with his hand reaching out to pull you up. Amen

Monday, July 9, 2012

Staying Focus on Jesus Christ

Our Main Focus.

John 21:22 - Jesus said to him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me." 

John 21:23 - Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?" 

Take Note here in 2 verses back to back Jesus told Peter this key part > what is that to you?

In other words it’s none of our business what others do; our main focus should be on Jesus Christ and no one else.

Read the rest…….

When a person has settled the matter of death, then he is ready to live and to serve!

Our Lord’s words, “Follow me!” must have brought new joy and love to Peter’s heart. Literally, Jesus said, “Keep on following me.” Immediately, Peter began to follow Jesus, just as he had done before his great denial. However, for a moment Peter took his eyes off the Lord Jesus, a mistake he had made at least two other times.

After that first great catch of fish, Peter took his eyes off his Lord and looked at himself. “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). When he was walking on the stormy sea with Jesus, Peter looked away from the Lord and began to look at the wind and waves, and immediately he began to sink (Matt. 14:30). It is dangerous to look at the circumstances instead of looking to the Lord.

Why did Peter look away from his Lord and start to look back? He heard somebody walking behind him. It was the apostle John, who was also following Jesus Christ. Peter did a foolish thing and asked Jesus, “What shall this man do?” In other words, “Lord, you just told me what will happen to me; now, what will happen to John?”

The Lord rebuked Peter and reminded him that his job was to follow, not to meddle into the lives of other believers. Beware when you get your eyes off the Lord and start to look at other Christians! “Looking unto Jesus” should be the aim and practice of every believer (Heb. 12:1–2). To be distracted by ourselves, our circumstances, or by other Christians is to disobey the Lord and possibly get detoured out of the will of God. Keep your eyes of faith on Him and on Him alone.
This does not mean that we ignore others, don’t get me wrong, because we do have the responsibility of caring for one another, we should pray for one another (Phil. 2:1–4). Rather, it means that we must not permit our curiosity about others to distract us from following the Lord. God has His plan for us; He also has plans for our Christian friends and associates. How He works in their lives is His business. Our business is to follow Him as He leads us (see Rom. 14:1–13).

I was just reminded of this fact when I went to examine myself in prayer and going through this period of worrying about other peoples business, when in fact my main focus should have been placed on Jesus Christ and him alone. We are to be shameful to worry about other peoples business or what they are doing or to even listen to such silly gossip about them or others.

Another fact is we should not bicker and fight of such things or to hold grudges against one another, woe to us, woe to me. This really is a sad state if we believers fall into this trap and that pit, shame on us.

The main focus and our eyes should be place squarely on Jesus Christ and forget about the other things that pull our eyes away from Jesus. But the Lord tenderly rebuked me with, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” And what is that to you?

It was just the message I needed, and the rest of us should heed to this rebuke from our Lord Jesus Christ. Shame on us for such petty things and looking at others, yes I am preaching to myself on this and other should do the same to themselves.

More problems are caused by confused saints than by lost sinners! Misinterpreting the Word of God only creates misunderstanding about God’s people and God’s plans for His people.

(Remember, witness is a key theme in the gospel of John. The word is used forty-seven times.) So we should be doing the same instead of focusing on such petty things of what others do or what they should be doing, or what we say about each other. We should be putting our eyes on Jesus Christ himself and not what they are doing.

Remember, Jesus Christ is transforming lives today. Wherever He finds a believer who is willing to yield to His will, listen to His Word, and follow His way, He begins to transform that believer and accomplish remarkable things in that life. He also begins to do wonderful things through that life.

Friday, June 15, 2012

James 3:1-12

James 3:1-12
The book of James is a passage that is much loved and well known. Of the many issues that James raises throughout his writing, most people tend to be familiar with what he has to say about the power of the tongue. They pick up on the images of the bit in the horse’s mouth and the rudder on the ship, and reflect upon the need to be very careful with how we speak. All of which is an important part of what James has to tell us.

James has to teach us about controlling our speech. And to understand the framework from which James is working we need to go back to the very beginning of the Bible to the Genesis creation narratives. There in Genesis 1:26-27 we read that we humans are made in the image of God, and in Genesis 2:19 we read of how man named the animals.

Now the importance of those two theological truths lie in their connection with the power of speech. In Genesis 1 we given the profound theology of how God created the world through the power of his word. As those made in the image of God we carry the force of that same creative power, which is evident in Genesis 2, where the distinctiveness of humanity is expressed in its ability to speak and name the rest of creation.
There is creative power in the spoken word. It has the capacity to create and shape the world in which we live. And as we encounter this passage in James about the use of speech, we need to look at it through the framework of that creative power. These are not instructions in James that simply seek to uphold polite behavior. They are instructions to warn us about the destructive power of speech in its capacity to create and shape our world.

For any teacher this passage in James is very confronting because while we can see general principles applying to everyone, James has those who have responsibility for teaching in his sights. And it is notable that in these opening two verses we have the only occurrence in James of the first person plural pronoun, where he talks about how ‘we who teach’.

As James develops his thought and teaching here, he is addressing himself as much as he is addressing all who have responsibility for teaching within the church. And we need to remember that this teaching is primarily focused on the Church.

This is why he uses those images of the bit in the horse’s mouth or the rudder on a ship. The teacher may only be a small part of the church community, but their position of responsibility through the words that they speak is one of great power and influence. Therefore all teachers need to take very seriously the responsibility and power that they have in their words.

Now as you read through all that James has to say here there is a fairly negative picture being generated. Apart from the image of the bit in the horse’s mouth and the rudder on the ship which are fairly neutral, the rest of the images are quite destructive. He talks about how the tongue can be like a small spark that ignites a great forest fire. He talks of how the tongue has the capacity to corrupt the whole person and set the whole course of their life on fire.

In v7, with allusions back to that Genesis 2 passage, he points out the power of man to tame the animal world and yet his inability to tame his own tongue. He then describes it as restless evil and full of deadly poison. All of which gives a very negative picture of what happens with the power of speech.
Now for those in James’ congregation who have been listening to this point, they may have been feeling a bit comfortable about themselves.

They could see in their society all the realities that James has been outlining. But then James turns in v9-10 to what goes on in the church and there is nowhere to hide.
He points out the very confronting reality that exists within his church that there are people who give praise to God and with the same mouth curse their fellow man who is made in the image of God. There are those in his church who, with the same mouth praise and curse. And James response to this behaviour is very simple: this should not be.

James reminds us here that we have power in our words. We are able to create the worlds in which we live by our words. But how well are we handling that responsibility?
Think for a moment about the dynamics that go on in the family home between parent and child. Whether we are conscious of it or not the fact is that the words we use within our families shape and create the world in which our family functions.

If the only words that a parent gives to its child are negative and destructive, then that will shape the child’s world. If the only message that the child hears is that they are a nuisance, that they will not amount to anything, that they are worthless, then that is the world the parent has created for that child. If that is the case then there is no surprise when the child has no respect for its parent, or has any desire to be obedient. They simply live out the world that their parent has made.

How important it is for the words spoken in families to be words of love and grace. All children need to hear that they are loved and accepted. All children need to hear that they are valued and have potential. All children need to hear that they belong and are a part of the family. And if parents and children use words of love and grace, then they create a very different world for their family. It will be a world filled with respect and love, and one in which every member of the family will thrive and be enriched.
Such is the creative power of words.

When we look out upon our society with all of the breakdown in respect and behavior, with all the greed and violence that permeates so many communities, you have to ask the question - where does this come from? What has caused this?
Now the easy answer is to say that it’s all come from evil and is a manifestation of evil. But that is too easy an answer because it removes responsibility from everyone.
The more confronting answer is that the reason we see these things in our society is because this is the world that our words have created.

Look at the language and words that we see being used by our governments, by our business leaders, by our union leaders and by our media. Most of the words that fill our society are words of selfishness and abuse.

We may despair of the behavior in our streets, but look at the behavior of our governments. When our governments of every persuasion, both Federal and State, behave no better than a bunch of thugs in gangs, how can we expect anything better of anyone else? When you watch Question Time in our Federal parliament, do you hear words that stir your imagination and that project a grander vision for the country? No - all you hear is abuse and name-calling.

When we use words that dehumanize people then we should not be surprised that they do not act like humans. There is creative power in words, and our words create the world in which we live. And this goes for nations, for families and it goes for our church communities. We need to understand the power of words.
If we turn to the church community, the great tragedy is that the very place where there should be words that build up and create a world of love, we often encounter words of destruction that break the church community apart. Very few people leave churches because they had a disagreement. The reason they leave the church is because of the vitriolic words that were used to express the disagreement.
We Christians can be very creative with our use of words and deceive ourselves about the reality of our words. We can speak of a commitment to the truth when in fact we are speaking of intolerance of the views of others.

We can speak words of acceptance when in fact we really mean that we only accept if they are like us. We can speak words of affirmation when in fact we are really just damning with faint praise. We can pray great words in our worship of God when in fact we are simply wanting to bring attention to ourselves.
The most constant word of condemnation that Christians and the church receive is the word ‘hypocrite’. It is a word that describes a conflict of realities. When the church says one thing but its behavior says something else it is a hypocrite. When a Christian says one thing but their behavior says exactly the opposite they are a hypocrite.

We have touched on what James has to say about this in v9 but it is something we need to keep before us every moment of every day. We need to ensure that our words match our lives, and that they are matched in a positive way.

So that if we are speaking words of love and grace then our actions need to reflect love and grace. If we are speaking words of forgiveness then our actions need to reflect the reality of that forgiveness. If we are speaking words of acceptance then our actions need to reflect the reality of that acceptance. And if we are giving praise to God than our lives need to reflect that in how we relate to one another.
The simple truth as James points out here is that you can’t praise God and curse man with the same mouth. He then gives some images in v11-12 to highlight the inconsistency of that sort of behavior. Fresh water cannot also be saltwater. A fig tree does not produce olives. A grapevine does not produce figs.

The point that James wants to make is that if we are people of the spirit of God then our words need to be consistent with that reality. Lives that are filled with the Holy Spirit should be filled with words that reflect that truth. If our lives are reflecting that truth, and our words are reflecting that truth, then you imagine for a moment the world that will be created around us.

There is a very powerful scene at the very end of the movie ‘The Mission’ where the Papal representative reflects on the destruction that took place amongst the missions. Those who oversaw the destruction simply concluded that this is the way of the world. The Papa representative says. No thus we have made the world.
We live in a word dominated society. We express so much information to each other by words. We write letters or e-mails. We read newspapers and books. When we go shopping we read product labels. When we make decisions about what to buy we read reviews and information. When we describe the things that we see and are going through we use words.

Our lives are surrounded by words and we need to respect their power. Our words are not simply descriptions of the world in which we live, they are the creative power that shapes our world. And this truth is consistent across every aspect of life. It applies to our families. It applies to our communities. It applies to our nation and it applies to our church.

While there is enormous capacity to be destructive with our use of words, there is also a powerful capacity for redemption in the use of words. We have the creative power to transform the lives of people, our community and our church by the words we use.

We see that in a very practical way in the Kids Hope ministry where the words of the mentors are able to bring transformation in the lives of the children. We are able to see it when words of forgiveness and love are exchanged and reconciliation takes place between people who were once alienated. We see it when the words of the gospel that speak of God’s love and grace break through the darkness of peoples lives and brings light and life.

The human tongue does have the capacity to be incredibly destructive. We need to remember that and be constantly on guard with it. But under the power of the Holy Spirit the human tongue is able to build the kingdom of God. Spirit filled words create a new world, and the challenge before us from James, is for us here to be a people who use Spirit filled words.

May our words in all their expressions be used by God for the transformation of our world.
God Bless

Thursday, May 17, 2012

All Things for the Good

All Things Work Together.

The Bible teaches that "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28). It is reassuring to know that when God allows suffering, which He could prevent, He is accomplishing something good.

Some of the good things God can accomplish through our suffering are as follows: building endurance and perseverance into our lives (James 1:3, Rom. 5:3) Helping us grow in Christian maturity (James 1:4), proving our godly character (Rom. 5:4), developing Christ-likeness (Rom. 8:28-29), helping us grow in personal holiness (Heb.12:10), and giving us the assurance that we are His children (Heb. 12:7-8). We may not see the good that God is accomplishing. But we can be confident that His eternal purposes are being fulfilled through our trials.

Sometimes the dark threads are as needful as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern God has planned. But someday, he will unroll the tapestry of our lives and we will see the beautiful work God has accomplished, partly through suffering.

It is important to keep an eternal perspective when going through suffering. Paul wrote, "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

God recognizes that sometimes greater glory will come to His name by permitting evil rather than disallowing it altogether. It is hard to understand from a human and earthly perspective why God will sometimes allow human suffering for the purpose of bringing greater glory to Himself. 
But if the purpose of our lives is to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31), then we will accept suffering gladly to more adequately exhibit the greatness of our God. 

So with this, count it as all Joy when we endure these trials and tribulations in life, because the end result will be this, we will all grow from these things and it will help us to learn and face the hard times in our lives and make us stronger Christians in the Long run.

Amen

Friday, April 20, 2012

The Verdict is In!!

It's been a few Years now but many has forgotten about it, but does anyone remember Casey Anthony trial?? Some of you may and some of you may not. But the other day I was thinking of many things and was thinking of the trials of the lost folks, (sinners) who will face when they are standing Face to Face with God.

What will they say, What will they be thinking, or will they say I am ok. Well folks all I have to say is this, and here is the title of this message.

The verdict is in!!

Well the entire nation it seems....watched a young mother stand in wait before a JUDGE for what seemed an eternity for a verdict that would announce her fate, In the eyes of most, this woman was guilty, guilty, guilty and most likely she is and was!!

But what stuck out to me is "that moment" of waiting for an answer of which she had no idea........what was going through her mind?....."what is My Verdict?" "will I die?" "am I guilty?" "what will I be doing one week from today?" "I'm not a bad person?" "It was an accident?" "I've got away with murder?" "I don't deserve this?" "It was my childhood's fault" It was to be Her moment of reckoning, and man was the world tuned and glued in!!

Couldn't Help but to think of how it's a picture of what is to come for sooooo many lives, having to WAIT for a verdict has got to be excrutiating, I just can't imagine. But I did get to thinking and wondering If People realize that someday they too will have a Verdict Read, that they too will stand before an accuser and a Judge? And this accuser will have had all his ducks in a row, in fact he's master planned their demise and has insured their length of stay ....The Judge will have every idle word on record and even the hidden secret things will be made public. You see, the Bible Says all people who have been given life, are appointed a time to die...so YOU ...

You will have died, You will then be summoned to appear before the Most Supreme of All Courts, You will be called by name and ushered in ....You, Like Casey Anthony ...will be standing before a Judge awaiting an ETERNAL VERDICT.........a Verdict determined by what you did with the Life given you? Did you live for self and sin and pleasure?...Did you Break God's Law's? You've heard of The Ten Commandments Right?....IF Found Guilty there is absolutely only thing that will happen, you will be quickly and resolutely thrown into an eternal holding place of which there is no escape and the Bible says that people there wail and gnash their teeth...wallowing in guilt and shame and torment....

And it won't get any better because at some point you will be thrown into a Lake of Fire of which it will never be quenched and you will find no relief, wishing for all eternity to just exist no more, but sadly...you were created to live somewhere eternally and unfortunately IF you have been found Guilty ....Your fate is forever sealed and HELL is Your Reward However, there will be those who when they die...they too will be brought before the same accuser and the same Judge.....

They will be ushered in....but standing in front of the Accuser will be one we will call THE ADVOCATE and He's the Greatest Public Defender of All Time ...They will be excused from all Court Proceedings...their case has already been closed!!! "SETTLED OUT OF COURT" A PLEA DEAL WAS WROUGHT

...The Accuser will try and protest...BUT before He can even speak...the Public Advocate will say "Hey Dad (remember the Judge?..that's His Dad)...."Hey Dad, I've brought before You another one of my faithful servants".....The Father will look at His Son, The Accuser will scream "FAITHFUL?" "BUT ...BUT.....I SAW HIM ...I SAW HER...SHE WAS GUILTY of this crime in 1998 or 2007...she was an adulterer, he was a cheat".....but He will be drowned out....

The Father will Only see the Advocate standing in the way....The Judge...will say "well, Well Done...thy good and faithful servant...enter in" The One who will have been Pardoned ...was actually pardoned 2,000 years ago, before they were even born Christ Had already died for them and that person will run with all their might and begin to bow and worship at the feet of Him who's hands and feet were pierced, they will cry great tears and He will dry their tears and stand them to their feet and say "Welcome Home" They will have "no waiting period" for their verdict was handled by THE CROSS....and your verdict can be too.

You see, You can go to that courtroom guilty as you are and take your chances
I'm sure on every account there would be many who could justifiably accuse like they have with Casey..."she's a murderer!" And they would be absolutely right!!! Have you ever lied even Once? "then your a liar", Have you ever lusted at another? Then Your an Adulterer!! Have You ever hated? Then Jesus say's your a MURDERER!!! ...You will be guilty as charged and will DESERVE what you have coming!!!

The Wrath of Almighty God but Here's where I come to You ....Your Guilty...You have no hope in that Courtroom ...but there's someone I'd love to refer you too!!! He's The One who Already Paid Your Fine....2,000 Years ago, He came to this earth because of YOU!!!! He knew you'd need Him, He knew You'd broken the Law. So He came and willfully took what You have coming, He went and was bruised and beaten and scarred and battered, all this before He was then laid upon a Cross, nailed with spikes into His feet and Hands and then Raised Up Publicly for every eye to see him hang in shame FOR YOU!!!

Then 3 days later, after having been laid to rest ....this Man Called Jesus rose from the grave....proving He is The Son of Almighty God, The Way, The Truth and the Life and He told us IF we will believe that ..If we will Confess that ...If we will call upon Him ...He will stand in our place before the accuser and Judge giving us not what we deserve but rather Eternal Life!!!! What is He asking that you would do now? Turn from the Lies, turn from the deceit, turn from sin and turn to Him and be saved!!

So Casey Anthony Stood before an imperfect Court and an Imperfect Judge and may have temporarily gotten away with murder......but this life is but a vapor and someday she will have another court appointment!! I pray she hears this news of Jesus Christ or she will have no hope this time....will you?
The Verdict is Already In!!

Amen