Jeremiah 2:27
They say to wood, 'you are my father.' and to stone, 'you gave me birth.' They have turned their backs to me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, 'Come and save us!'
I was talking to a member of my church who is a father of a teenage girl. He said his daughter called him the other day with excitement in her voice. He said, "I knew then she wanted something because she never really calls me." Not only did she call wanting something but it was a big ticket item, she wanted her daddy to get her a car! Prior to this the daughter had spurned any attempts at relationship from her father but when she wanted/needed something she called her father.
Does this sound familiar? often times we are the Teenager and God is the father. God only wants a relationship with us but instead we give him our back. God wants some FaceTime. When singer, Katy Perry, is out on the road she likes to talk to her husband on her IPad through FaceTime but wishes they had a 'black&white' option because, "everyday looks better in 'black&white'." Everybody looks better when they have FaceTime with God in 'black&white' with no gray areas. Those who worship God must worship him in Spirit and in truth. We ought to approach him even when we don't want anything.
When we choose other things and other people over God it's like turning our backs on God. When we worship money, fame, relationships over God, it's like choosing idols and turning our backs on God. When God requests FaceTime and we click ignore we give him our backs. In order to keep growing in grace and favor we need to seek God's face and not just his hand.
Give God your Face by:
1. Praying every morning. David said, "Daily will I seek you." God needs some face time with you. You should fall on your face and seek God early in the morning.
2. Reading scripture everyday. God's word is a lamp unto your feet and a light for your path.
3. Serving others in ministry. Jesus said, "when you do for the least of these you also do unto me." By serving others we are spending FaceTime with Jesus.
Dear God,
Today, I give you my face and not my back. You deserve more from me then just a call when I need something. Daily will I seek your face. Thank you for giving me time to be with you and to do your Holy Will.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Monday, August 8, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Pick Up The Pieces
John 6:12
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
When I was a child you didn’t throw away food. Leftovers became tomorrow's dinner. Food was too hard to come by to be wasting anything. When you sat down for dinner you could get all you wanted but you better want all you got. My dad would say, “dont’ let your eyes be bigger than your stomach.” If there was anything left we had to pick up the pieces because we could use them to get us through rougher days when we might not have the same abundance that we had on payday. Some of you know what it’s like trying to stretch your money and food out from one pay period to the next.
Great Grandmama taught us how to pick up the pieces when she made dresses or clothes for the kids. If she had any material left over she made quilts to cover us and keep us warm. Whatever God provides you, make sure you pick up the pieces because you will need them later.
One day Jesus had a multitude of people who followed him because they heard he could heal the sick. When it was lunch time he had about 5 thousand plus staring at him with hungry bellies. One of his disciples said, “Send these people home, if we worked 8 months to feed these people we wouldn’t make enough for each of them to get a piece of bread.” Then another disciple found a little boy with a lunch bag consisting of 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. The disciple said, “How can this small meal feed so many?” Some of you have the same question today, here’s how you pick up the pieces:
1. Make the people sit down. Miracles take place when we all sit at the feet of Jesus. Many people miss miracles because they stop coming to church. Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name there I will be in the midst.” Where Jesus is and we are sitting together there you will find miracles that meet your needs. This Sunday come to church and sit in worship with your unmet needs, with your hunger, and watch God provide. Jesus said, “Those that hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied!”
2. Put the little bit that you do have in Jesus’ hands and watch him multiply it. The little boy gave up his lunch to feed more people than they had food. The generosity of this child sparked a miracle. Sometimes, what we think is our last is really what God wants to use for a miracle that leads to leftovers. God loves a cheerful giver. It’s not equal giving it’s equal sacrifice that God honors.
3. Pick up the Pieces after your miracle. When you sit at Jesus feet in worship and give him what little you have get ready for the miracle you need from God. After he blesses you make sure you pick up the pieces. When the disciples picked up the pieces they had 12 baskets of barley loaves. That was one basket for each disciple. When they got to a place where there was no food guess what they ate off, the leftovers. Pick up your pieces!
Dear God,
Thank you for my pieces. My pieces gave me peace when I was in a hungry season. You gave me just what I needed when I needed it. Work a miracle for every hungry person, every unemployed person and make it stretch until their next season of more than enough. Thank you for the pieces. Give us this day our daily bread. Thank you Lord for making a way out of no way!
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”
When I was a child you didn’t throw away food. Leftovers became tomorrow's dinner. Food was too hard to come by to be wasting anything. When you sat down for dinner you could get all you wanted but you better want all you got. My dad would say, “dont’ let your eyes be bigger than your stomach.” If there was anything left we had to pick up the pieces because we could use them to get us through rougher days when we might not have the same abundance that we had on payday. Some of you know what it’s like trying to stretch your money and food out from one pay period to the next.
Great Grandmama taught us how to pick up the pieces when she made dresses or clothes for the kids. If she had any material left over she made quilts to cover us and keep us warm. Whatever God provides you, make sure you pick up the pieces because you will need them later.
One day Jesus had a multitude of people who followed him because they heard he could heal the sick. When it was lunch time he had about 5 thousand plus staring at him with hungry bellies. One of his disciples said, “Send these people home, if we worked 8 months to feed these people we wouldn’t make enough for each of them to get a piece of bread.” Then another disciple found a little boy with a lunch bag consisting of 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. The disciple said, “How can this small meal feed so many?” Some of you have the same question today, here’s how you pick up the pieces:
1. Make the people sit down. Miracles take place when we all sit at the feet of Jesus. Many people miss miracles because they stop coming to church. Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name there I will be in the midst.” Where Jesus is and we are sitting together there you will find miracles that meet your needs. This Sunday come to church and sit in worship with your unmet needs, with your hunger, and watch God provide. Jesus said, “Those that hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied!”
2. Put the little bit that you do have in Jesus’ hands and watch him multiply it. The little boy gave up his lunch to feed more people than they had food. The generosity of this child sparked a miracle. Sometimes, what we think is our last is really what God wants to use for a miracle that leads to leftovers. God loves a cheerful giver. It’s not equal giving it’s equal sacrifice that God honors.
3. Pick up the Pieces after your miracle. When you sit at Jesus feet in worship and give him what little you have get ready for the miracle you need from God. After he blesses you make sure you pick up the pieces. When the disciples picked up the pieces they had 12 baskets of barley loaves. That was one basket for each disciple. When they got to a place where there was no food guess what they ate off, the leftovers. Pick up your pieces!
Dear God,
Thank you for my pieces. My pieces gave me peace when I was in a hungry season. You gave me just what I needed when I needed it. Work a miracle for every hungry person, every unemployed person and make it stretch until their next season of more than enough. Thank you for the pieces. Give us this day our daily bread. Thank you Lord for making a way out of no way!
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
It Could Be Worse
John 5:14
Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
Have you ever been sick before? I mean down on your back sick and you told God, “If you get me through this I promise I’ll do better.” We’ve all been sick before or in a place where we were not complete. God graciously stepped in to our time and space to heal us. However, there was a pre-requisite to your healing; you had to want to get better. God can’t move against your will. You have to want to get better and do better. Getting better and doing better both go together. The very thing that God is bringing you out of could be worse than what it is because after you get better you have to do better. It could be worse.
Many people who get organ transplants are advised by their doctors to take care of their organs but many of them go right back to the behaviors that made them sick in the first place and destroy the new organ. They are worse than before. They have wasted the sacrifice.
When Jesus gives you new life you have to change your lifestyle or you could be worse than you were before he saved you. Jesus healed a man that had been an invalid for 38 years, lying in the same spot making excuses that people kept cutting him off. How many of us have been lying in the same spot for years? Do you want to get well?
I was watching a movie last night called Surrogates with Bruce Willis who plays a cop trying to stop a man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase remote controlled humanoid robots through which they interact with society. These fit, good-looking, remotely controlled robots ultimately assume their life roles, enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Bruce’s character destroys the machines because it robbed the people of their ability to truly live. Many of us have surrogate appearances while our true selves remain invalid. Once the façade of who we are in public is destroyed who we are in private has to get up and do better.
Jesus has raised us to our true selves and we have gotten back in church. Jesus healed the invalid, got him back on his feet, but he doesn’t know who healed him. Could it be that many of us have benefited from being healed by Jesus but we really don’t know Jesus? We’ve been healed but we haven’t been discipled. Jesus meets the man in the temple. You have to give the man credit at least he was in the Temple even though he didn’t know the man who healed him. Jesus had slipped away before he could finish his introduction. Many times we leave church before we are properly introduced to Jesus but every now and then he will catch us at church and he will tell us, “You are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
After you are healed you need to:
1. Go back to church. This Sunday you need to get back in church so you can have an encounter with Jesus. You can worship with us live or online at www.n2newdirection.org 8 am and 10:30 am, 6120 Winchester, or 9:15 am Collierville, 114 Highway 72.
2. Get Disciples which simply means, get taught on what it means to be a Christian by attending Tuesday night Bible study live or online at 6120 Winchester @6:30 p.m. or Wednesday in Collierville 114, Highway 72 6:30 pm.
3. Change your Lifestyle or give your life to Jesus through service. Sign up for a ministry so that you can engage your life in something positive. When you stop doing something bad you need to start doing something good.
Dear God,
Thank you for saving me and healing me. My life could be worse than what you delivered me from. I don’t want to see what worse looks like. I’m ready to head in a New Direction from the inside out.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
Have you ever been sick before? I mean down on your back sick and you told God, “If you get me through this I promise I’ll do better.” We’ve all been sick before or in a place where we were not complete. God graciously stepped in to our time and space to heal us. However, there was a pre-requisite to your healing; you had to want to get better. God can’t move against your will. You have to want to get better and do better. Getting better and doing better both go together. The very thing that God is bringing you out of could be worse than what it is because after you get better you have to do better. It could be worse.
Many people who get organ transplants are advised by their doctors to take care of their organs but many of them go right back to the behaviors that made them sick in the first place and destroy the new organ. They are worse than before. They have wasted the sacrifice.
When Jesus gives you new life you have to change your lifestyle or you could be worse than you were before he saved you. Jesus healed a man that had been an invalid for 38 years, lying in the same spot making excuses that people kept cutting him off. How many of us have been lying in the same spot for years? Do you want to get well?
I was watching a movie last night called Surrogates with Bruce Willis who plays a cop trying to stop a man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase remote controlled humanoid robots through which they interact with society. These fit, good-looking, remotely controlled robots ultimately assume their life roles, enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Bruce’s character destroys the machines because it robbed the people of their ability to truly live. Many of us have surrogate appearances while our true selves remain invalid. Once the façade of who we are in public is destroyed who we are in private has to get up and do better.
Jesus has raised us to our true selves and we have gotten back in church. Jesus healed the invalid, got him back on his feet, but he doesn’t know who healed him. Could it be that many of us have benefited from being healed by Jesus but we really don’t know Jesus? We’ve been healed but we haven’t been discipled. Jesus meets the man in the temple. You have to give the man credit at least he was in the Temple even though he didn’t know the man who healed him. Jesus had slipped away before he could finish his introduction. Many times we leave church before we are properly introduced to Jesus but every now and then he will catch us at church and he will tell us, “You are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
After you are healed you need to:
1. Go back to church. This Sunday you need to get back in church so you can have an encounter with Jesus. You can worship with us live or online at www.n2newdirection.org 8 am and 10:30 am, 6120 Winchester, or 9:15 am Collierville, 114 Highway 72.
2. Get Disciples which simply means, get taught on what it means to be a Christian by attending Tuesday night Bible study live or online at 6120 Winchester @6:30 p.m. or Wednesday in Collierville 114, Highway 72 6:30 pm.
3. Change your Lifestyle or give your life to Jesus through service. Sign up for a ministry so that you can engage your life in something positive. When you stop doing something bad you need to start doing something good.
Dear God,
Thank you for saving me and healing me. My life could be worse than what you delivered me from. I don’t want to see what worse looks like. I’m ready to head in a New Direction from the inside out.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Something Better Than This
Hebrews 11:25
He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.
You can’t stay comfortable in a place you don’t belong no matter how comfortable it is. The pleasures of life don’t measure up to the purpose for your life. No matter how good something is you can’t remain in it, if it does not connect with what God has for your life. Some lifestyles cannot be sustained because the payout doesn’t line up with your purpose. When you know who you are and whose you are you can’t stay in Egypt when you have a Promised Land.
Moses was raised as a prince of Egypt eventhough he was born a Hebrew. Who he was on the inside didn’t match who he was on the outside. While he lived in luxury his people lived in slavery. When he saw his people being mistreated he couldn’t take it or fake it any longer. He rose up and struck down the Egyptian task master and fled for his life. He abandoned his life of luxury to eventually become the Liberator of his people. The bible says, “Moses persevered because he saw him who was invisible.
Moses chose to be mistreated with his people rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. Moses knew there was something better than this. When you know that there is something better than this you:
1. Might have to let go of what you thought you couldn’t do without. No matter how pleasing something is to you, you can’t hold on to it if it is not good for you.
2. Be mistreated for a season until you are delivered out of Egypt. Moses gave up his status as Prince to be treated as a Pauper so that he could see the liberation of his people. The most dangerous man in the world is the one that has nothing to lose.
3. Stay on the back side of nowhere until you see him who is invisible to receive your assignment. Moses was in Egypt for 40 years and then had to hide in Horeb for another 40 years. God had to work Egypt out of his system before he brought him back as liberator.
4. Go back to face your past to liberate your people and connect with your purpose. God told Moses, “Go tell Pharaoh to let my people go.” What is your purpose that will help your people?
Dear God,
Thank you for being with me through my mistreatment. I’d rather connect with my purpose than to be stuck in my pleasure. Move me into my purpose so that I can liberate my people.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.
You can’t stay comfortable in a place you don’t belong no matter how comfortable it is. The pleasures of life don’t measure up to the purpose for your life. No matter how good something is you can’t remain in it, if it does not connect with what God has for your life. Some lifestyles cannot be sustained because the payout doesn’t line up with your purpose. When you know who you are and whose you are you can’t stay in Egypt when you have a Promised Land.
Moses was raised as a prince of Egypt eventhough he was born a Hebrew. Who he was on the inside didn’t match who he was on the outside. While he lived in luxury his people lived in slavery. When he saw his people being mistreated he couldn’t take it or fake it any longer. He rose up and struck down the Egyptian task master and fled for his life. He abandoned his life of luxury to eventually become the Liberator of his people. The bible says, “Moses persevered because he saw him who was invisible.
Moses chose to be mistreated with his people rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. Moses knew there was something better than this. When you know that there is something better than this you:
1. Might have to let go of what you thought you couldn’t do without. No matter how pleasing something is to you, you can’t hold on to it if it is not good for you.
2. Be mistreated for a season until you are delivered out of Egypt. Moses gave up his status as Prince to be treated as a Pauper so that he could see the liberation of his people. The most dangerous man in the world is the one that has nothing to lose.
3. Stay on the back side of nowhere until you see him who is invisible to receive your assignment. Moses was in Egypt for 40 years and then had to hide in Horeb for another 40 years. God had to work Egypt out of his system before he brought him back as liberator.
4. Go back to face your past to liberate your people and connect with your purpose. God told Moses, “Go tell Pharaoh to let my people go.” What is your purpose that will help your people?
Dear God,
Thank you for being with me through my mistreatment. I’d rather connect with my purpose than to be stuck in my pleasure. Move me into my purpose so that I can liberate my people.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
A Deadly Habit!
Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the day approaching.
Bad habits are hard to break. A habit is an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary. When you do something over and over it becomes second nature. It takes 21 days to form a new habit and after that it just becomes natural to keep doing it. One of the habits that is killing us is when we decide to skip church. It becomes easier and easier not to go to church when you stay at home because it has become a habit. You lose the desire to come to worship and as a result you drift further and further from God until it no longer bothers you. It’s a deadly habit.
As a child it was ingrained in me that you must attend church every Sunday. I could have stayed out all night and dragged in at 3am but I was getting up to go to church that morning. Now some people would ask, “Isn’t that hypocritical to party all night Saturday and then come to church?” I would argue that it’s not hypocritical but helpful because you can’t keep coming to church and be exposed to the word of God and not make changes in your life. What hurts us is when we cut church out and create a void of God in our lives. Oftentimes, when I didn’t feel like going to church but made myself go anyway is when God blessed me the most. The enemy wants nothing more than for you to continue to make excuses for not coming together for worship on a weekly basis.
Jesus said, “Where two or three people are gathered together in his name he would be there in the midst of them. There is no power where we stay at home missing the connection with other believers. Once a week we should meet together so that we can:
1. Encourage one another. Oftentimes, we are able to hear from other believers through testimonies, bible study, and small groups that we are not the only ones dealing with something. When we attend worship regularly something the preacher says or the choir sings can be the very thing that helps us to deal with an issue we could not solve on our own.
2. Serve one another. In church there are so many people with different gifts that we might be missing. Some people have the gift of encouragement where others may have the gift of discernment to help you see something you couldn’t. Some people have the gift of helps where they can assist you where you thought you were all alone. God gives the church different gifts so that we can help each other.
3. Save one another. There is accountability in church. When we are connected to other believers they will not let you drive down a road where they know the bridge is out. We need other believers to encourage us toward good works. We don’t need to be surrounded by people who tell us what we want to hear but instead we need believers to tell us what we need to hear.
We owe it to ourselves, one another, and to God to start a new habit of regular worship attendance. For the next 21 Sundays make a new habit of coming in the building and worshipping with other believers. This habit will save your life.
Dear God,
Help us to create healthy habits that will bring us closer to you. Please break the habit of skipping church because it's killing our power, robbing our anointing and hindering our community. Give us the discipline to get back in church on a regular basis.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the day approaching.
Bad habits are hard to break. A habit is an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary. When you do something over and over it becomes second nature. It takes 21 days to form a new habit and after that it just becomes natural to keep doing it. One of the habits that is killing us is when we decide to skip church. It becomes easier and easier not to go to church when you stay at home because it has become a habit. You lose the desire to come to worship and as a result you drift further and further from God until it no longer bothers you. It’s a deadly habit.
As a child it was ingrained in me that you must attend church every Sunday. I could have stayed out all night and dragged in at 3am but I was getting up to go to church that morning. Now some people would ask, “Isn’t that hypocritical to party all night Saturday and then come to church?” I would argue that it’s not hypocritical but helpful because you can’t keep coming to church and be exposed to the word of God and not make changes in your life. What hurts us is when we cut church out and create a void of God in our lives. Oftentimes, when I didn’t feel like going to church but made myself go anyway is when God blessed me the most. The enemy wants nothing more than for you to continue to make excuses for not coming together for worship on a weekly basis.
Jesus said, “Where two or three people are gathered together in his name he would be there in the midst of them. There is no power where we stay at home missing the connection with other believers. Once a week we should meet together so that we can:
1. Encourage one another. Oftentimes, we are able to hear from other believers through testimonies, bible study, and small groups that we are not the only ones dealing with something. When we attend worship regularly something the preacher says or the choir sings can be the very thing that helps us to deal with an issue we could not solve on our own.
2. Serve one another. In church there are so many people with different gifts that we might be missing. Some people have the gift of encouragement where others may have the gift of discernment to help you see something you couldn’t. Some people have the gift of helps where they can assist you where you thought you were all alone. God gives the church different gifts so that we can help each other.
3. Save one another. There is accountability in church. When we are connected to other believers they will not let you drive down a road where they know the bridge is out. We need other believers to encourage us toward good works. We don’t need to be surrounded by people who tell us what we want to hear but instead we need believers to tell us what we need to hear.
We owe it to ourselves, one another, and to God to start a new habit of regular worship attendance. For the next 21 Sundays make a new habit of coming in the building and worshipping with other believers. This habit will save your life.
Dear God,
Help us to create healthy habits that will bring us closer to you. Please break the habit of skipping church because it's killing our power, robbing our anointing and hindering our community. Give us the discipline to get back in church on a regular basis.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Mix With Faith Before Stirring!
Hebrews 4:2
For we also have had the gospel preached to us just as they did but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with Faith.
Whenever you get juice from concentrate and it is shipped to be consumed it must always be mixed with water before serving. The concentrate juice will go further and be consumed by more people if it is mixed with water. You can't serve the juice to others if it is still in concentrate form. Then you also have to be concerned with the purity of the water that you use to mix with the concentrate. You can have some good juice from concentrate and mix it with some polluted water. It only works if it's combined or mixed with the right thing in the right way.
God's word is pure concentrate. His word does not come back void, it goes out and accomplishes God's will. God's word is living and active, sharper than any double edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Every time we hear God's word preached it's like receiving pure concentrate but it's no good if it's not combined or mixed with Faith. We can hear the gospel preached but if it's not mixed with faith it stays with us but never gets served to others.
1. It is impossible to please God without faith. When we come to God we must believe that he is able to do what he said he would do.
2. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. You have to see it before you see it or you never will see it.
3. We walk by faith and not by sight. Quit focusing on what can only be seen but instead focus on What God said can be and mix it with your faith that he can do it.
4. Faith without works is dead. It's not enough to believe God can but you've got to act on what he tells you to do. You have to pray like everything depended on God and act like everything depends on you.
5. Ask God to help strengthen your faith. Paul told Timothy, "I am reminded of the same great faith that was in your grandmother and your mother and is now also in you, Stir up the gift of God that is in you!" Paul told him to, "Fan into flame the gift of God." Sometimes, our flames of faith go down because of the hardships of life but you have to mix some faith with God's word to get your flame back up.
This morning, before you start serving anybody, make sure you mix the gospel you have already received with the faith that can move mountains. People are not going to get God if you don't concentrate on His word and mix it with your faith. Get out there and serve them up!
Dear God,
Please increase my faith so that I can effectively serve you and your people. You've already given me your word, now I have to mix it with my faith. My faith looks up to thee thou Lamb of Calvary. I believe but help me with my unbelief!
In Jesus Name,
Amen
For we also have had the gospel preached to us just as they did but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with Faith.
Whenever you get juice from concentrate and it is shipped to be consumed it must always be mixed with water before serving. The concentrate juice will go further and be consumed by more people if it is mixed with water. You can't serve the juice to others if it is still in concentrate form. Then you also have to be concerned with the purity of the water that you use to mix with the concentrate. You can have some good juice from concentrate and mix it with some polluted water. It only works if it's combined or mixed with the right thing in the right way.
God's word is pure concentrate. His word does not come back void, it goes out and accomplishes God's will. God's word is living and active, sharper than any double edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Every time we hear God's word preached it's like receiving pure concentrate but it's no good if it's not combined or mixed with Faith. We can hear the gospel preached but if it's not mixed with faith it stays with us but never gets served to others.
1. It is impossible to please God without faith. When we come to God we must believe that he is able to do what he said he would do.
2. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. You have to see it before you see it or you never will see it.
3. We walk by faith and not by sight. Quit focusing on what can only be seen but instead focus on What God said can be and mix it with your faith that he can do it.
4. Faith without works is dead. It's not enough to believe God can but you've got to act on what he tells you to do. You have to pray like everything depended on God and act like everything depends on you.
5. Ask God to help strengthen your faith. Paul told Timothy, "I am reminded of the same great faith that was in your grandmother and your mother and is now also in you, Stir up the gift of God that is in you!" Paul told him to, "Fan into flame the gift of God." Sometimes, our flames of faith go down because of the hardships of life but you have to mix some faith with God's word to get your flame back up.
This morning, before you start serving anybody, make sure you mix the gospel you have already received with the faith that can move mountains. People are not going to get God if you don't concentrate on His word and mix it with your faith. Get out there and serve them up!
Dear God,
Please increase my faith so that I can effectively serve you and your people. You've already given me your word, now I have to mix it with my faith. My faith looks up to thee thou Lamb of Calvary. I believe but help me with my unbelief!
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
He's Able
Hebrews 2:18
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Sometimes, when we are struggling with our humanity we feel ashamed of our failure to live up to God’s standard of Holiness. It is Satan’s job to entice you then condemn you. It’s Jesus' job to free you then fill you. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He became a human like us so that he could fully understand the weight of our human condition. Jesus was tempted in every way but he did not sin. The writer of Hebrews says, “He suffered when he was tempted.” When you resist temptation there is suffering that comes along with it because you are fighting against the gravitational pull of animalistic inclination as well as the repercussion of the backlash from a culture that does not understand your resistance to conformity. Holiness is what I long for but brokenness is what I need and brokenness hurts.
Jesus went through the gauntlet of being tempted. He resisted and his reward was crucifixion. Chuck D in his song, ‘Welcome to the Terror Dome,’ said, “Crucifixion ain’t no fiction still they got me like Jesus.” The terror Dome of life can be excruciating because of the crucible of life. Jesus absorbed all of our sins on the cross. By his death he destroyed Satan and freed us from the fear of death.
Jesus is able to:
1. Give us strength while we are being tempted. Jesus gets up under our heavy load to help us to bare our cross. In the poem, Footprints in the Sand, a man wonders why there was only one set of footprints in the sand during the hardest part of his life. He thought God had left him. Jesus said, “That was the time I was carrying you.”
2. Provide a way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
3. Set us free from the grips of sin and death. Hebrews 2: 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Dear God,
Give me the ability to successfully navigate my way out of temptation. Lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil. Don’t move my mountain but give me the strength to climb.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Sometimes, when we are struggling with our humanity we feel ashamed of our failure to live up to God’s standard of Holiness. It is Satan’s job to entice you then condemn you. It’s Jesus' job to free you then fill you. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He became a human like us so that he could fully understand the weight of our human condition. Jesus was tempted in every way but he did not sin. The writer of Hebrews says, “He suffered when he was tempted.” When you resist temptation there is suffering that comes along with it because you are fighting against the gravitational pull of animalistic inclination as well as the repercussion of the backlash from a culture that does not understand your resistance to conformity. Holiness is what I long for but brokenness is what I need and brokenness hurts.
Jesus went through the gauntlet of being tempted. He resisted and his reward was crucifixion. Chuck D in his song, ‘Welcome to the Terror Dome,’ said, “Crucifixion ain’t no fiction still they got me like Jesus.” The terror Dome of life can be excruciating because of the crucible of life. Jesus absorbed all of our sins on the cross. By his death he destroyed Satan and freed us from the fear of death.
Jesus is able to:
1. Give us strength while we are being tempted. Jesus gets up under our heavy load to help us to bare our cross. In the poem, Footprints in the Sand, a man wonders why there was only one set of footprints in the sand during the hardest part of his life. He thought God had left him. Jesus said, “That was the time I was carrying you.”
2. Provide a way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
3. Set us free from the grips of sin and death. Hebrews 2: 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Dear God,
Give me the ability to successfully navigate my way out of temptation. Lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil. Don’t move my mountain but give me the strength to climb.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
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