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This message today comes from the past year of trials, joys, and expectation of God having His way in the lives of His people. I am have read many books: The Gospels; The Epistles; The Peacemaker by Ken Sande; Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness by Jerry Cook; Crazy Love by Francis Chan; Agape Leadership by Peterson & Strauch. Through all of this, God has always drawn me back to His profound mercy, grace, and love through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son Christ Jesus. There is no greater joy in life than knowing Christ Jesus, there is no greater joy then serving Jesus and the joy of the Lord is more present today as you and I have grown in our love relationship with God in heaven and with each other. I have learned that loving others is the easiest thing to do, because I have final found how easy it is to accept who God says I am. As we grow in and through God’s wonderful life bringing Word; I would like to pose a question John Piper posed in His book “God Is the Gospel.”
“If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw. All the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied in heaven, if Jesus was not there.” The two main scriptures for the message this morning is: Mark 12:29-31 29 Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' 31 The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." Galatians 5:13-14 13 For you have been called to live in freedom — not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Our greatest freedom in this life is the freedom God gives us through Jesus by the power of His Holy Spirit to Love Him and to love others as we love ourselves. The Scriptural love I am referring to throughout this message is “agape.” There is so much joy in living life with love as the guiding principle. When love is the major focus of our lives, we are compelled to freedom which brings more love, which bring greater freedom … what a “Crazy Love” cycle life becomes. The greatest love in life is Jesus, and when His love fills our lives there is no greater joy in living to love other. Paul also write in Galatians 5:6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. Love is the greatest action Christians are called too. Through love there is never a burden of serving, there is only a burden for serving that is serving God first and foremost as we learn more about God’s perspective on life. Like King David expressed in Psalms 63:1-5 1 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. 3 Your unfailing love is better to me than life itself; how I praise you! 4 I will honor you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. 5 You satisfy me more than the richest of foods. I will praise you with songs of joy. Freedom, in Christ Jesus, does not bring to our lives the pressure to love but the joy and the peace to love. This has given new light to the Scriptures found in James James 2:17 So you see, it isn't enough just to have faith. Faith that doesn't show itself by good deeds is no faith at all — it is dead and useless. Perhaps the greatest deed of all is our purposeful love for Christ, and others; that is our “agape.” Always remember that the life we live is not our life it belongs to Christ who paid for it through his body and blood given on the cross at Calvary. When we find ourselves lacking in love, we are not to try harder to love as Francis Chan points out we are to let Jesus in Revelation 3:20 "Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends. James also pointed out after his admonishing us to actively live out our faith James 4:8a Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you…. Jesus came to save us from Hell and He also came that our lives might be full today John 10:10 The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. Life today is to be full and the fact is we all need God to help us love God and others. Leaning on Jesus, living in Christ is how agape is manifested in our lives. Agape brings into our lives praise and worship of the one who loved us first. Psalm 28:7The LORD is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trust in him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Psalm 16:11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. “If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw. All the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied in heaven, if Jesus was not there.” There is no greater joy in life than experiencing the love God has for us through His Son and the forever presence of His Holy Spirit. I am not interested in painting a lop-sided picture just as the Psalms proclaim life to its fullest, so they proclaim a life of struggles and trials as well. Psalm 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD! Listen to my cries for help! Don't ignore my tears. For I am your guest – a traveler passing through, as my ancestors were before me. Jesus even told us how life was going to be with Him John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." Life is not perfect; then when people are introduced into the mix life gets really complicated. Loving others is difficult and yet Jesus tells us He has overcome the world. This gives us great joy, to take heart, keep on, fight the good fight, pray without ceasing, and never grow weary. What does this look like in our lives? Loving God as Jesus commanded is always remembering who God is, those names He gave us of Himself: Abba Father; Everlasting; your Creator; our Life; the Light; Love; Most High; Most Holy…. Loving God as Jesus commanded is obediently living as He shows us where He is working. Loving God as Jesus commanded is praising and worshipping Him in all things. When we continually recognize who God is; be obedient to His working, and praise and worship Him, He then is given the proper place in our lives FIRSTNESS, because nothing else will matter. Like Jesus said Luke 9:23-24 23 Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. Loving others is different; we become the givers, regardless of what we receive. There are many examples given to us describing what loving others looks like. Here is one example in the Scriptures that shows what it looks like to love others Philippians 2:1-4 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one heart and purpose. 3 Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. 4 Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing. Throughout the past several years, peacemaking has become foundational in promoting healthy relationship with others. One of the concepts of Peacemaking is that conflict is an opportunity to see God glorified. When we are loving others, that is being peacemakers not peace-breakers or even peace-fakers is when we are the most like Christ Jesus our Lord. Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. There is nothing better than giving up everything and stepping into a passionate love relationship with Christ Jesus. Jesus is the one who made the universe, all that is seen, you and me. Through His living in us, loving us; that is when we are able to love others and then build relationships that will bring glory to God in heaven. There is no greater life of joy than loving God, and loving others.
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This message has been developed over the past six years. It is one that has led to the transformational work of the Holy Spirit within Garfield Christian Fellowship. If you have been a part of this Family for a while, you have heard some of these things. As we are obeying the social distancing rules, I had this idea that it would be good to go over some of the things that God has used to bring transformation to our lives. Here is the first message we spent months walking through and the past six years learning and applying to our lives and will spend the rest of our lives learning and applying as well.
I pray our time together will bring glory and honor to God. May you experience God the Father, our Lord Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in real, personal, and practical ways. I love you all and look forward to a great big hug very soon. I will be delivering a hard copy of this to those who do not use the computer. The Irreducible Core of the Christian Faith. Matthew 28:18 Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Everything in the Bible is important, everything in the Bible points to Jesus and Jesus has been “given all authority in heaven and on earth.” And since the only way to God the Father, Heaven, is through Jesus, what He teaches us is the most important. And since Jesus is our King, High Priest, and Prophet what He taught and what He did is what we as Christian, followers of Jesus, need to learn and apply to our lives. John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. Jesus taught many things and showed us many things about the Kingdom of Heaven. He brought clarity to the life God desires of His people, the ones He calls out to be His very own. There are three statements Jesus taught us that has become known as the “The Irreducible Core” (IC) of the Christian faith. These three statements are foundational for all who call themselves Christian. Since Jesus has all authority, His instructions for our lives are our focus. The IC is the most basic instructions/commands given to us. There are three parts (Jesus’ statements) to the IC: two commandments Jesus summarized for us and one mission Jesus declared for us. Here are the first two of the IC of the Christian faith: Matthew 22:34-40 34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?" 37 Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." Since these two commands are equally important and “the entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments,” then these should be the very least we focus on in our lives. There are many things we can do as followers of Jesus, these two are the very minimum we need to focus our lives on. Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus replied, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.” The implication of this is more than our minds could possibly fathom … It is through our love relationship with God that the truths of Scripture will be lived out in our lives. A natural consequence of loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind is that God will be glorified in and through our lives. No human effort will bring glory to God only the wonderful grace, mercy and love of God in and through our lives will bring Him glory. For each and every one of us, loving God with all we are is fundamental to our faith. Instead of me telling you what loving God looks like, I am going to ask you to search the Scriptures and, if you are willing, share what God has shown you about what it looks to love Him with all our heart, mind, and soul. Luke adds strength in there too. Luke 10:27-28 The man answered, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" 28 "Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!" What does “love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind” (strength) look like? Matthew 29:39 A second is equally important: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love your neighbor as yourself… The implication of this will transform the way Christians do church. Loving our neighbor as ourselves implies we understand who we are in Christ. Understanding our identity in Christ, allows us to see us the way God does. When we grasp (even if only a little) God’s love, grace, and mercy our perception of who we are changes the way we love ourselves and thus we are able to love others rightly. When we understand who we are in Christ Jesus and the life changing work of the Holy Spirit, we then are able to give life producing words to others. One Scripture that comes to mind often is Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. As our love relationship with God grows, we understand who we are in Christ and through this wonderful relationship we are able to love (agape) others because we have learned to love as God does. Instead of me telling you what loving others as myself looks like, I am going to ask you to search the Scriptures and, if you are willing, share what God has shown you about what this looks like. I am not asking who your neighbor is, just what does it look like to love them. What does “Love your neighbor as yourself” look like? Part three of the IC, is the mission Jesus gave His disciples, you and me. The Great Commission. Matthew 28:18-20 18 Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Make disciples along the way… Making disciples is all about teaching people to know Jesus, to follow Jesus, to remember Jesus… in reality the Word, Jesus, tells us to “obey all his commands.” The implication of this commission is that the church knows Jesus’ command and that we know how to apply them to our lives. If the Church of today would truly grasp and understood disciplemaking, church as we know it would never be the same again. We will be ever changing as we embrace the people(s) of the community we live in. Jesus spent three years showing us what disciplemaking looks like. Jesus followed the Jewish rabbinic model for disciplemaking giving us all we need to understand, develop, and apply disciplemaking to our lives. Instead of me telling you what disciplemaking looks like, I am going to ask you to search the Scriptures and, if you are willing, share what God has shown you about what this looks like. What does go and make disciples of all the nations look like? The irreducible core then are these three basics fundamentals to the Christian faith Love God Love others Make disciples along the way This is the challenge: to live out these three basic commands. One very important Scripture that has helped me with this is Romans 12:2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. The challenge, only if you want to, share with me and others Scriptures that you use to help you focus. Scriptures that help you Love God with all you are and have, love others as yourself, and make disciples along the way? Looking forward to hearing what God has done in your life to live out the irreducible core of the Christian faith. 1 Timothy 3:1, sets before us the role of leadership within the family structure God has put into place.
1 Timothy 3:1 This is a trustworthy saying: "If someone aspires to be an elder, he desires an honorable position." Leadership within the family is one that has at its core service. Jesus defined leadership as servant-leadership. Matthew 20:22-28 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." Jesus went so far as to demonstrate what this leadership looks like as He laid himself on the cross, died for us, and raised from the dead to erase all the consequences of sin in our lives. His definition of leadership is wrapped up in Agape, loving first and for most all that God loves. Servant-leadership is most about helping others come to know the love, grace, and mercy of our King who leads us into all of God’s glory through the power of His Holy Spirit, living in and through us. An honorable and humbling position indeed. Throughout my walk as a pastor, I have made many mistakes and I am pretty sure more are to come. I have no desire to make mistakes and yet, I do. This is where I find strength and perseverance, knowing that in spite of my weaknesses, Christ Jesus my Lord is stronger, mightier, and more loving, and it is through His presence that the mistakes are turned into good. Romans 8:28-30 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. God, through Christ Jesus, by the ever present, Holy Spirit takes our blunders and makes them right. Thank you for your patience and support as God continues to mold me into the man (pastor), He has called me to be. I am blessed to have you along side me through the journey. May you experience God in real, personal, and practical ways as we navigate through this time of distancing ourselves from one another. Love you all. Titus 3:8 sets forth the active form of Christian service, bidding us diligently to maintain good works.
Titus 3:8 "This is a faithful saying, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works." I know we want to be careful when we talk about good works. Always establishing that works are an expression of our love for Jesus, not our attempt to produce salvation. We are involved in faithful love to Jesus first and equally important faithful service to others (Matthew 22:34-40). We are to be involved in acts of charity to other believers and to the world of non-believers. We have been given charge to make sure we are not playing church but that we are being the church. Not some form of religion but true and undefiled religion friends. We are given as Christians the definition of religion James 1:27 Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. God has called us to a work in the world around us and He has shown us that He desires to bless the work that is done through the directions of the Holy Spirit. I am reminded of these instructions as I think about “maintaining good works.” Philippians 2:12-13 12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. There are many sets of instructions that help understand the type of work God is doing in and through us. Philippians 2:14-16; Colossians 3; Ephesians 4-5 and other places. It is not us who can pull these things off, it is God working in our lives, through the Holy Spirit, that we have a chance at all. What is important in living out the things God has for us: “obeying God with deep reverence and fear” (Philippians 2:12). Obedience is the key, even Jesus was obedient to the Father’s plan and workings. John 5:19 So Jesus explained, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. Seeing God at work requires our spiritual eyes to be open and our hearts pure. Seek God for the areas in your life that He wants to make pure, repent and seek His direction for the “good works” He want to lead you through. Search for God now and may we proclaim with gladness and joy these words “The Lord is great!” Psalms 40:16 But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, "The Lord is great!" I am searching for ways we can immobilize as the Family of God to help those who may need it if this virus attack lasts too long. The affects at this time in our community are unknown, I believe we have an opportunity to seek God’s heart and make Holy Spirit led decisions for helping. Let’s start thinking out loud how we might immobilize as the Body of Christ, to meet the needs of our community. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 shows one of the duties to which the chosen people are called; we are ordained to suffer for Christ with the promise that “If we die with Him” we shall also “live with Him” "if we endure hardship,” we shall also “reign with Him."
2 Timothy 2:11-13 11 This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. 12 If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. 13 If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is. God is faithful to His children. Remember what God’s Word says about the trials we face 1 Peter 1:7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So, if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. We will have hard times, some harder than others and God promises that someday we will live eternally with Him. This involves us, believers in Christ Jesus, living with Christ in His Kingdom sharing in the administration of His Kingdom. This is comforting especially in time of trials/persecution. Trustworthy and true is that we will “live with Him” and “reign with Him” as we endure and persevere. It is faith in Jesus Christ that gives us victory. 1 John 5:4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. We do not fear the enemies, for He has already conquered them. Through our identification with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection, we have won the victory (see Romans 6). What a pair of paradoxes! Death leads to life! Suffering leads to reigning in glory! We have nothing to fear! The important thing is that we not "disown" our Lord; for if we disown Him here, He will disown us before the Father Matthew 10:33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven. In that great "roll call" in glory, when the "prizes" are given out, we will lose our reward if we disown His name. Oh, the Scriptures make it clear (vs 13) that even our own doubt and unbelief cannot change Him: "He remains faithful; for He cannot deny who He is." We do not put faith in our faith or in our feelings because they will change and fail. We put our faith in Christ Jesus, who has “overcome the world.” (John 16:33) The great missionary, J. Hudson Taylor, often said, "It is not by trying to be faithful, but in looking to the Faithful One, that we win the victory." May we embrace this “trustworthy saying” and persevere through all the trials and hardships of life and stand firm in the power of the Holy Spirit if/when persecution comes our way. May our faith be found “strong and pure.” 1 Timothy 4:9 affirms the blessedness hope we obtain through this salvation -- blessings of being used by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of all.
1 Timothy 4:8-10 8 "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." 9 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. 10 This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers. Things that are to be avoided in our spiritual training are explain 1 Timothy 4:1-8 All that God has created are wonderful gifts: our true faith, marriage and food. They are given to us by God and the use of them all, in the proper way, should bring Him glory and honor. Verse 4-5 says Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer. All things created by God are worthy to bring Glory to Him, and all our thanks and praise belong to our Creator. Things we can do to promote godliness are found in 1 Timothy 4:14-16 Training for godliness, is using or spiritual gifts that are given to us by the Holy Spirit. As we practice the spiritual gift(s) given to us, we, just like our muscles grow and stay healthy with exercise, will grow our spiritual muscles. Our talents improve by exercise. For a reminder of the functional spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit see Romans 12:1-8. For a reminder of the manifestational gifts of the Holy Spirit see 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. For a reminder of the equipping gifts of the Holy Spirit see Ephesians 4:11-13. Each of the spiritual gifts given are for the benefit of others. 1 Corinthians 12:7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. In 1 Timothy we are reminded to give close attention to how we live, thus how we exercise (vs. 15). Remember there is only one way to live out the instructions given to Timothy and that is to remain in Jesus. As we remain in Jesus (John 15), we learn that our “training for godliness” has more to do with learning to love God, love one another, and to help those who don’t love Jesus to love Him. Let us also always remember that as we “Give our complete attention to these matters” (vs. 15), God is always, through the Holy Spirit, developing us. As we give complete attention to the matters God has for us, He is always faithful to lead us. 1 Corinthians 10:13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. Another trustworthy saying to cling to "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." NOTE: If you are interested in exploring spiritual gifts in more depth, I encourage you to read “A Primer on Spiritual Gifts” by Philip J. Noordsman, found on Amazon. "This is a trustworthy saying” NLT “This is a faithful saying.” NKJV… There are only five such statements in the Bible and all are in the New Testament: 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Timothy 3:1; 1 Timothy 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:11-12; Titus 3:8. All five of these "trustworthy sayings" are important for our faith.
I will share thoughts about each one over the next five days. I encourage you to share your thoughts about what God is saying to you as the Holy Spirit reveals the truth to you. 1 Timothy 1:15 lays the foundation of our eternal salvation in grace the free gift from God, as shown to us in the mission of our great Redeemer. 1 Timothy 1:15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"—and I am the worst of them all. The Good News, (the Gospel, Jesus reigns) is summarized in this faithful saying. Christ Jesus came to save sinners and no sinner is beyond His power. Jesus did not come to make people good or to merely live good lives. He came to offer salvation that leads to eternal life. There are none who are too good to stay away from Jesus and none who are too bad not to come to Jesus. The simplicity of the Christian faith is belief. We confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts… salvation is real. Romans 10:9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. I like how Paul said, “and I was the worst of them all.” Once a sinner, now a child of the one true King, now a friend of the King. The Bible’s definition of one who follows Jesus is Philippians 4:21-23 21 Give my greetings to each of God's holy people—all who belong to Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you their greetings. 22 And all the rest of God's people send you greetings, too, especially those in Caesar's household. 23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. “God’s Holy people” could be translated, is often translated “saint.” We are defined in Jesus as God’s holy people, his saints. One of the true and faithful saying we cling to "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," all glory, praise, and honor to our King, we have been set free! Thank you, Lord Jesus for saving each one of us from the destruction of sin, death. Thank you, God for loving us so much that you would send your Son that we would not perish in our own self-centeredness. Thank you Holy Spirit for showing us the truth of our salvation, and always comforting and reminding us of Truth. Dear brothers and Sisters,
Greeting in the Holy Name of Christ Jesus our Lord! As we are forced to change our schedules and forced to change the way we interact with the world around us, I have been reminded several times this past week to count my blessings. Counting our blessings is an opportunity to glorify God in the mist of conflict. I hear on the radio, quite often, this statement, and it seems worth repeating today: “Worry worships our troubles; while prayer worships the God who can change them.” When we take time to count our blessings, something happens to us spiritually that is hard to explain. It seems like all the troubles are easier to deal with, they don’t go away, they just become easier to walk through. The troubles become smaller and God becomes bigger, not that He was ever small, it is just that He seems to be bigger, more present, more available, more everything! Hebrews 12:28-29 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire. We find God to be the unshakable One, in our times of trouble when we are counting our blessings and being thankful for all He has given us. Counting our blessing is a form of worshiping God, who alone deserve all our worship. Counting our blessings brings into perspective God’s power and might in spite of our troubles. King Jehoshaphat as he considered the plight of God’s people declared this: 2 Chronicles 20:9 They said, 'Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honored. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.' We do not know how to over come the trials and troubles of our day, we do not know what is the outcome of Covid-19, or any other pandemic that comes our way. We do know the one who hears us and rescues us! We declare with the king, “We can come to stand in your presence…where your name is honored.” That last part of the prayer Jehoshaphat offered before God was this: 2 Chronicles 20:12 O our God, won't you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help." We are powerless against this pandemic and we don’t know what to do nor do we know the outcome, but we are looking to God for our help! We lean more into God, as we count, with all joy, the great and mighty provisions of our God! We remember the words of Jesus as He consoled His disciples just before the cross John 14:27 "I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So, don't be troubled or afraid. We can declare God’s goodness in time of war, pandemics, famine, or any other time because we know Him who is our peace. Let’s take time this week to count our blessings. One great blessing I was reminded of is you, my brother and sister. I thank God for you and count it all joy to know we are in this together. We may not be able to gather in one spot, but we are able to gather in Spirit and in Truth. Because of what Jesus has given us, each other, we can endure all the troubles and trials of this life. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, has brought into existence a new society. One that is radically different than the world can understand. Here is a small description of this new society. Colossians 3:12-17 12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Dear brother and sister, I encourage you to take a moment and reach out to family, if only by phone, and share God’s goodness with them. Take time to pray together and be thankful in this time of uncertainty. Not thankful for the trial, but thankful in all circumstances! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Reach out to neighbors and share God’s goodness with them. Everyone could use a word of hope, and there is no greater hope than knowing Jesus as King and Lord. Take this time to count your blessings and worship God, who can change them. Have a Holy Spirit filled day, love you all and looking forward to hearing how God has been glorified through all of this |
AuthorDean Walker; Pastor Archives
January 2023
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