CLick link below to listen to song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_Jh911AkcM
The Light of the World
We live in a darkened world, and when God “saves” us He expects us to disseminate light into the darkness - to “learn to be the light”.
You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. Matthew 5:14-16
Jesus said this during His ‘greatest of all time sermon (Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 5) there on that hillside…to the disciples. Now, you’ve never seen a more common group of guys, by the world’s standards, than this group. So ordinary, and very, extremely unimportant, humanly speaking of course. When Jesus said they were the light of the world, it was in spite of the fact that it was the Greeks who were known world-wide for their superior knowledge, architecture, art, and philosophy. Aristotle, Plato and Socrates had already given their teachings centuries before Jesus told this unassuming group of men that THEY were the light of the world!
And Jesus is saying that to all His followers, including us today. It should make us wanna’ lift up our heads and realize what a grand and glorious thing it is to be a Christian and a child of the King and a “light of the world”.
Light is miraculous. It’s almost impossible to define light…it’s a mystery. Webster’s Dictionary will tell you that ‘light is something that makes vision possible.’ Big help, Mr. Webster, Thanks so much!
The Bible says that God is light. Intellectually that means the knowledge of God is light. Morally that means the holiness of God is light. Physically that mean the glory of God is light.
When Jesus says that we are the light of the world, it means God has deposited His nature inside of us (Through the Holy Spirit), and we are to let it out. It’s in there! It just needs to be allowed to shine forth. So we need to be “learning to be the light”.
Christian, you aren’t the only person ever called ‘the light of the world.’ Who else? Yes, other Christians, but who else? Jesus!
12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12 So, Christ is in us, and we aren’t really, in and of ourselves, the light, but the light is in us! And we need to learn to use it!
That’s further proof that the world is dark today… 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9. Without Him, it’s a dark place, that is, unless He shines thru us! Soooo, we need to learn to be the “LIGHT”!
Now, many people love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil…but many are seeking the truth. Will they see our light, set on a hill?
The only way they will get to know Jesus as the true light of the world is if they see that light reflected by us, and shining in us!
Here’s how it happened. Man started in the light, for God is light, but chose to sin, and plunged himself into darkness. Humanism says the opposite, that man starts in darkness, but is getting better and better, and closer and closer to the light. We know better. Sinful mankind is in darkness, but we are to be the light of the world, showing them the way out.
So, God loves man so much, and wants to help people in darkness to see His light, so He deposited the light in 3 places:
a. The scriptures
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105
But not everyone will see the light in the Bible.
b. The Savior
Jesus came as the light of the world. But many reject Him. And then He left.
c. The Saints (Believers)
Like fireflies across your yard in the evening, Christians are to shine as the lights in this world. The first Bible some people in your life will ever read will be the Bible of your life. The first sermon they will ever hear will be a sermon in shoes…you!‘
You are writing a gospel, a chapter each day
by the deeds that you do, by the words that you say
men read what you’re writing, whether faithless or true
Hey, what is the gospel according to you?’
Someone once said, "I'd rather see a sermon, than hear one any day.”
The only way they will get to know Jesus as the true light of the world is if they see that light reflected by you, and shining in you!
A lot of us are unwilling to be different, to be the light. We don’t wanna’ be laughed at or thought of as strange…so, we follow the course of the world, and go with the flow, instead of heading upstream … taking a stand. That worldly attitude is a bushel that will snuff out our light.
A pastor warned a young man in his church that was moving away that the company he was joining was very worldly and could be a bad influence on him, and furthermore, they would treat him very badly for being a Christian. Months later he heard just the opposite, that the boy’s experience had been ‘nothing but pleasant.’ The pastor asked, ‘you mean they haven’t persecuted you for being a Christian?’ He replied, ‘Nope! Matter of fact, they haven’t even found out!’
How about it? Have the people in your life even found out you are saved? Work / family / neighbors / friends? Does our life, our talk, our actions reflect the “light” of the Lord? Our desire to ‘blend in’ to our environment can be a basket that is keeping us from “showing the light” to the “world”!
No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. Matthew 5:15
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Valentine’s Day: A Love Worth Giving
Valentine’s Day: A Love Worth Giving
Well, Tuesday is Saint Valentine’s Day! Do any of you know the story behind the origins of Valentine’s Day. You know, it is called Saint Valentine’s Day for a reason.
Approximately 250 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was a priest by the name of Valentine. He lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius came to believe that only single men would volunteer for service, so he issued a royal edict that banned all further marriages in the Roman Empire, earning himself the nick-name Claudius the Cruel.
Valentine thought it was ridiculous! One of his favorite duties as a priest was to marry people. So Valentine secretly continued performing marriage ceremonies. He would whisper the words of the ceremony, while listening for soldiers on the steps outside.
One night, Valentine did hear footsteps at his door. The couple he was marrying escaped, but he was caught. He was thrown in jail and sentenced to death. Valentine tried to stay cheerful. Many of the young couples he had married came to visit him in jail. They threw flowers and notes up to his window. They wanted him to know that they, too, believed in love.
One day, he received a visit from the daughter of one of the prison guards. Her father allowed her to visit him in his cell and they often sat and talked for hours. She believed he did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and performing weddings. On the day Valentine was to die, he left her a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. He signed it, “Love from your Valentine.” That note started the custom of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day he died, February 14, 269 A.D.—a day that was set aside in honor of a man who gave his life for God and for love. Now, every year on this day, people remember Saint Valentine, but most importantly, they think about love.
Everyone loves love! We want to be loved and we want to give love. The problem is—our love is lacking just like we are. It’s often conditional upon our own mood or our loved one’s actions, appearance or attitude. When it comes to love, all of us fall a little short, don’t we?
The question for today is—how do we develop and nurture a love worth giving on Valentine’s Day and every day?
The answer is found in God’s Word—John 15:9-17 to be precise. Let’s read what Jesus has to say in this passage.
I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command… This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:9-17 NLT)
Jesus had a lot to say about love, and his final night with his followers was no exception. During the course of the evening (which began in John 13 and carries on through chapter 17) Jesus uses the L-word no less than thirty times in eighteen different verses. It doesn’t take Bible scholar to see that love meant a lot to Jesus, that this was his central message to his disciples. Zeroing in on this brief excerpt from the evening, though, Jesus reveals for us how to obtain a love worth giving. It all begins when we receive his love for us!
• RECEIVE HIS LOVE
Jesus knew that the time for him to leave this world had come. He knew that the time he had left with his disciples was short. And he wanted to spend that time showing them the full extent of his love. “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.” (vs. 9). “I love you,” he told them! He loves us too.
A preacher once said, “Everything I ever needed to know about theology, I learned from just one song: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’”. This song has been translated into more languages than any other song. It’s often used by missionaries as a teaching aid, because they favor its simple and easy-to-learn chorus.
Why has this simple song become so universally known and loved? Because it expresses the single most significant and profound truth known to humanity in three simple words—Jesus love me! Years of seminary and a Doctor of Divinity degree won’t teach us anything more significant than this one song sung in Sunday-School classrooms all over the world.
Receiving the love of Jesus and living in his love everyday, is the first and most essential step in having a love worth giving. Jesus explains it this way: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NLT). In other words, as we draw closer to Christ and stay connected to him, he funnels his love into our hearts; only then will we have a love worth giving, because his love is the only perfect a pure love this world has to offer. His love is characterized by sacrifice: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” Jesus said (vs. 13 NLT). And that’s just what he did. Receive his love—accept the wonderful, undeniable truth that Jesus loves you and draw close to him, allowing him to pour his love into your heart. That’s the first step in obtaining a love worth giving. The second step is to reciprocate his love.
• RETURN HIS LOVE
In Jesus’ day, a rabbi’s disciples were generally known as his servants. But Jesus changes that. He says: “You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me” (vs. 14-15). In our relationship with God, Jesus promotes us from servant to friend—which sort of begs the question: what kind of friend are you?
It’s one thing to say, “Jesus loves me.” It’s whole other thing to say, “I love Jesus.” Can you say that? Do you love Jesus? Do you love God? Is your love for him reflected in how you live your life? When we sing “Oh, how I love Jesus,” do you mean it? We will never be able to love the people God has put in our lives, if we don’t start by loving God himself.
Jesus said that the first and greatest command is this: “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Mark 12:30). Our love for God, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit—must be the driving force of our lives. If everything we do isn’t spurred by our deep love for God, then nothing we do really matters.
So how can we return God’s love in practical ways? Well, it’s not too different from any other love-relationship. It’s built on trust, communication, adoration, etc. In other words: faith, prayer, and worship. The thing about loving Jesus, though, is that our love for him needs to be all-consuming. That’s essentially what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and abide in his love for you—it affects every aspect of your life.
Going right along with what Paul says in Romans 12:1, loving Jesus means “to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.”Now, as we continue to receive and return God’s love, there is a third ingredient that completes the recipe—recycling his love.
• RECYCLE HIS LOVE
Repeatedly throughout this passage and the rest of the chapter, Jesus says: “This is my command: Love each other.” (vs. 17). Once we’ve receive the love of Jesus into our lives and return his love, then we’re ready to recycle that love—to share that love with the rest of the world.Jesus was very specific, though, about how we should love people. He said, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you” (John 15:12). This commandment knocks the walls out of any definition that would limit the scope and intensity of love. We are to love as he loved.
Nothing, according to Jesus, is more important than loving God and loving people. Let’s make that our goal—not just on paper in the bulletin, but in our hearts every moment of every day. If we love each other as God has loved us, then we will become a church of love that will act like a magnet, drawing people who are starving for love into the presence of Jesus and the salvation that he offers.
Well, Tuesday is Saint Valentine’s Day! Do any of you know the story behind the origins of Valentine’s Day. You know, it is called Saint Valentine’s Day for a reason.
Approximately 250 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was a priest by the name of Valentine. He lived in Rome during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius came to believe that only single men would volunteer for service, so he issued a royal edict that banned all further marriages in the Roman Empire, earning himself the nick-name Claudius the Cruel.
Valentine thought it was ridiculous! One of his favorite duties as a priest was to marry people. So Valentine secretly continued performing marriage ceremonies. He would whisper the words of the ceremony, while listening for soldiers on the steps outside.
One night, Valentine did hear footsteps at his door. The couple he was marrying escaped, but he was caught. He was thrown in jail and sentenced to death. Valentine tried to stay cheerful. Many of the young couples he had married came to visit him in jail. They threw flowers and notes up to his window. They wanted him to know that they, too, believed in love.
One day, he received a visit from the daughter of one of the prison guards. Her father allowed her to visit him in his cell and they often sat and talked for hours. She believed he did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and performing weddings. On the day Valentine was to die, he left her a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. He signed it, “Love from your Valentine.” That note started the custom of exchanging love notes on Valentine’s Day. It was written on the day he died, February 14, 269 A.D.—a day that was set aside in honor of a man who gave his life for God and for love. Now, every year on this day, people remember Saint Valentine, but most importantly, they think about love.
Everyone loves love! We want to be loved and we want to give love. The problem is—our love is lacking just like we are. It’s often conditional upon our own mood or our loved one’s actions, appearance or attitude. When it comes to love, all of us fall a little short, don’t we?
The question for today is—how do we develop and nurture a love worth giving on Valentine’s Day and every day?
The answer is found in God’s Word—John 15:9-17 to be precise. Let’s read what Jesus has to say in this passage.
I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command… This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:9-17 NLT)
Jesus had a lot to say about love, and his final night with his followers was no exception. During the course of the evening (which began in John 13 and carries on through chapter 17) Jesus uses the L-word no less than thirty times in eighteen different verses. It doesn’t take Bible scholar to see that love meant a lot to Jesus, that this was his central message to his disciples. Zeroing in on this brief excerpt from the evening, though, Jesus reveals for us how to obtain a love worth giving. It all begins when we receive his love for us!
• RECEIVE HIS LOVE
Jesus knew that the time for him to leave this world had come. He knew that the time he had left with his disciples was short. And he wanted to spend that time showing them the full extent of his love. “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.” (vs. 9). “I love you,” he told them! He loves us too.
A preacher once said, “Everything I ever needed to know about theology, I learned from just one song: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’”. This song has been translated into more languages than any other song. It’s often used by missionaries as a teaching aid, because they favor its simple and easy-to-learn chorus.
Why has this simple song become so universally known and loved? Because it expresses the single most significant and profound truth known to humanity in three simple words—Jesus love me! Years of seminary and a Doctor of Divinity degree won’t teach us anything more significant than this one song sung in Sunday-School classrooms all over the world.
Receiving the love of Jesus and living in his love everyday, is the first and most essential step in having a love worth giving. Jesus explains it this way: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NLT). In other words, as we draw closer to Christ and stay connected to him, he funnels his love into our hearts; only then will we have a love worth giving, because his love is the only perfect a pure love this world has to offer. His love is characterized by sacrifice: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” Jesus said (vs. 13 NLT). And that’s just what he did. Receive his love—accept the wonderful, undeniable truth that Jesus loves you and draw close to him, allowing him to pour his love into your heart. That’s the first step in obtaining a love worth giving. The second step is to reciprocate his love.
• RETURN HIS LOVE
In Jesus’ day, a rabbi’s disciples were generally known as his servants. But Jesus changes that. He says: “You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me” (vs. 14-15). In our relationship with God, Jesus promotes us from servant to friend—which sort of begs the question: what kind of friend are you?
It’s one thing to say, “Jesus loves me.” It’s whole other thing to say, “I love Jesus.” Can you say that? Do you love Jesus? Do you love God? Is your love for him reflected in how you live your life? When we sing “Oh, how I love Jesus,” do you mean it? We will never be able to love the people God has put in our lives, if we don’t start by loving God himself.
Jesus said that the first and greatest command is this: “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Mark 12:30). Our love for God, for Jesus, for the Holy Spirit—must be the driving force of our lives. If everything we do isn’t spurred by our deep love for God, then nothing we do really matters.
So how can we return God’s love in practical ways? Well, it’s not too different from any other love-relationship. It’s built on trust, communication, adoration, etc. In other words: faith, prayer, and worship. The thing about loving Jesus, though, is that our love for him needs to be all-consuming. That’s essentially what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and abide in his love for you—it affects every aspect of your life.
Going right along with what Paul says in Romans 12:1, loving Jesus means “to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.”Now, as we continue to receive and return God’s love, there is a third ingredient that completes the recipe—recycling his love.
• RECYCLE HIS LOVE
Repeatedly throughout this passage and the rest of the chapter, Jesus says: “This is my command: Love each other.” (vs. 17). Once we’ve receive the love of Jesus into our lives and return his love, then we’re ready to recycle that love—to share that love with the rest of the world.Jesus was very specific, though, about how we should love people. He said, “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you” (John 15:12). This commandment knocks the walls out of any definition that would limit the scope and intensity of love. We are to love as he loved.
Nothing, according to Jesus, is more important than loving God and loving people. Let’s make that our goal—not just on paper in the bulletin, but in our hearts every moment of every day. If we love each other as God has loved us, then we will become a church of love that will act like a magnet, drawing people who are starving for love into the presence of Jesus and the salvation that he offers.
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Potter, the Clay and the Fire
Through The Fire by The Crabb Family
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WujzOtnuY0k
So many times I’ve questioned certain circumstances
and things I could not understand.
Many times in trials my weakness blurs my vision
and that’s when my frustration gets so out of hand.
It's then I am reminded, I've never been forsaken.
I've never had to stand one test alone.
As I look at all the victories, the Power of God starts rising up in me.
And It's through the fire my weakness is made strong.
(Chorus)
He never promised that the cross would not get heavy
and the hill would not be hard to climb.
He never offered a victory without fighting.
He said help would always come in time.
Just remember when you're standing in the valley of decision
and the advisory says give in, Just hold on.
Our Lord will show up right on time
and He will take you through the fire again
(Bridge)
I know within myself that I would surly perish
If I trust the hand of God, He'll shield the flame again.
(Chorus)
He never promised that the cross would not get heavy
and the hill would not be hard to climb.
He never offered a victory without fighting.
He said help would always come in time.
Just remember when you're standing in the valley of decision
and the advisory says give in, Just hold on.
Our Lord will show up right on time
and He will take you through the fire again
Just Hold On
Our Lord will show up (YEAH)
and He will take you through the fire again
The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” 3 So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. 4 But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
5 Then the LORD gave me this message: 6 “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. Jeremiah 18:1-6
I was raised close to two potteries. I even worked with the potter some. Clay is not very pretty when it is just clay. It is dug up and hauled to the potter’s shop. It is dry and not pliable. The potter may blend several types of clay together to get the product he wants. Water is added to the clay to make it more workable. The potter will begin to work with the clay before putting it on his potter’s wheel to get out all the rocks, trash or any other impurities. He may use someone else to do this (this is what I helped do) but when it comes time to put it on the wheel the potter is the only one who can turn it into something beautiful and/or useful.
Even when it is finally put on the potter’s wheel is still just a glob of ugly clay. We don’t have any idea what it will turn out to be but the potter does. He had a plan before he even started working with the clay. The clay is now on the wheel and the potter begins to work with it. The wheel starts turning and his hand begins to form the piece of pottery. It begins to take shape. If we watch closely we can begin to get an idea what it will be – a jug, a churn, a pot, a dish, a coffee cup or even a vase.
As he begins to form the piece, the potter may find that the clay is the wrong consistency, it may be to wet or to dry. It may just not feel right. He may smash the piece back into ball of clay. He can add water to make it more pliable or add some dry clay to make it drier. He may even decide to make it into a completely different piece. He may want to make something beautiful like a vase or he may want to just make something that is just plain but very useful. Either way the power to make the clay into something is completely in the potter’s hands.
As the piece turns on the wheel and the potter begins to thin out the walls he may find a piece of trash or a pebble that was not gotten out in the beginning. (Remember, this was my job) This could cause him to have to start over again. Why? First of all even if the imperfection is not visible, he will know it’s there. Also, the imperfection may be hidden from the human eye but when the piece is put in the kiln or furnace and subjected to the intense heat from the fire it could explode and ruin what would have been a beautiful or useful work.
Why must the pottery be put through the fire in the furnace? When the potter has finished turning the piece of pottery it is very fragile! Even after it dries it is still easy to break and not at all useful. Not usually very attractive. Kinda’ dull looking. Sometimes a glaze (like paint) is brushed on the piece to make it more attractive or to just give it some color or to make it shine. When the glaze is brushed on it is usually very dull and the actual color doesn’t come out until it goes through the fire of the furnace. After the piece of pottery has been subjected to the intense heat, hundreds of degrees, it will come out very beautiful and/or useful and will last forever. Pieces of pottery have been found that have withstood the elements for thousands of years.
What does all this mean to us?
We're the clay, He's the potter; the wheels--what about them? The revolving wheel represents the daily round of life, whether it is joyous or sad. It's on the wheel that the design of the potter's mind is transferred to the clay. The fire is what makes it durable and beautiful, but it can also find the flaws. Mark 9:49 says, “For everyone will be tested with fire.”
If there weren't any designs or differences in them how could we explain the tangles of life's circumstances? The potter's making them all--temperament, environment, bereavement, poverty, disappointment, misfortune, sickness. They all contribute to the perfecting of the vessel that He is fashioning on the wheel and will put through the fire. Amazing, isn't it? All of these things--bereavement, poverty,disappointment, misfortune, sickness--we say to the Lord, "Why are You doing this, Lord?" He says, "I'm making a vessel, a useful vessel."
Romans 9:21 says “When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?” Do you realize that complaints against your circumstances are really directed against the Potter who ordered them? How stupid can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you. You are only the jars he makes! Should the thing that was created say to the one who made it, "He didn't make us"? Does a jar ever say, "The potter who made me is stupid"? Isaiah 29:16
No other circumstances than those in which you find yourself as a Believer at this moment could achieve His highest beneficent purpose. What we need is not so much a change of circumstances as a changed attitude towards them.
Life is no blind whirring of wheels, but it's a combination of circumstances ordered with meticulous care by a loving Father. If we rebel against them, all we achieve is our own unhappiness and the marring of the vessel of our life.
And what about the clay? Job said in Job 33:6 “… I too have been taken from clay. A statement, which is true both materially and spiritually. Because it was made of the earth that God first formed man. "Man is but a handful of dust along the road of life," someone has said. The clay is the frail human nature. We are the raw material for the kingdom of God.
Clay is so common that it's practically valueless. It is very common stuff. It wasn't worth much of anything until they made it into a pot. And someone has said, "It is the art, which gives the value--and not the material." Left to itself clay would remain clay, but yielded to the shaping hand there are no limits to its possibilities.
Like clay, a human life is a thing of almost infinite possibilities. Geologists tell us that there are endless varieties of clay, each locality having its own peculiar varieties. No two of which can be treated the same. The heavenly Potter recognizing the fact that no two human beings are the same, doesn't deal with us as a group but bestows on each His individual and undivided attention. His dealings with each of us are unique and exclusive.
Are you willing to be molded and made and put through the fire by the Master Potter? Are you going to complain and say, "Lord, why are you doing this to me?" Or will you remember that He's shaping a vessel for His own use. And know that He will be with us and take us through the fire and make us useful and strong.
Could it be that God wants you to see that the trial you're facing today is a part of the bigger plan of shaping you into a vessel He can use?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WujzOtnuY0k
So many times I’ve questioned certain circumstances
and things I could not understand.
Many times in trials my weakness blurs my vision
and that’s when my frustration gets so out of hand.
It's then I am reminded, I've never been forsaken.
I've never had to stand one test alone.
As I look at all the victories, the Power of God starts rising up in me.
And It's through the fire my weakness is made strong.
(Chorus)
He never promised that the cross would not get heavy
and the hill would not be hard to climb.
He never offered a victory without fighting.
He said help would always come in time.
Just remember when you're standing in the valley of decision
and the advisory says give in, Just hold on.
Our Lord will show up right on time
and He will take you through the fire again
(Bridge)
I know within myself that I would surly perish
If I trust the hand of God, He'll shield the flame again.
(Chorus)
He never promised that the cross would not get heavy
and the hill would not be hard to climb.
He never offered a victory without fighting.
He said help would always come in time.
Just remember when you're standing in the valley of decision
and the advisory says give in, Just hold on.
Our Lord will show up right on time
and He will take you through the fire again
Just Hold On
Our Lord will show up (YEAH)
and He will take you through the fire again
The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” 3 So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. 4 But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
5 Then the LORD gave me this message: 6 “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. Jeremiah 18:1-6
I was raised close to two potteries. I even worked with the potter some. Clay is not very pretty when it is just clay. It is dug up and hauled to the potter’s shop. It is dry and not pliable. The potter may blend several types of clay together to get the product he wants. Water is added to the clay to make it more workable. The potter will begin to work with the clay before putting it on his potter’s wheel to get out all the rocks, trash or any other impurities. He may use someone else to do this (this is what I helped do) but when it comes time to put it on the wheel the potter is the only one who can turn it into something beautiful and/or useful.
Even when it is finally put on the potter’s wheel is still just a glob of ugly clay. We don’t have any idea what it will turn out to be but the potter does. He had a plan before he even started working with the clay. The clay is now on the wheel and the potter begins to work with it. The wheel starts turning and his hand begins to form the piece of pottery. It begins to take shape. If we watch closely we can begin to get an idea what it will be – a jug, a churn, a pot, a dish, a coffee cup or even a vase.
As he begins to form the piece, the potter may find that the clay is the wrong consistency, it may be to wet or to dry. It may just not feel right. He may smash the piece back into ball of clay. He can add water to make it more pliable or add some dry clay to make it drier. He may even decide to make it into a completely different piece. He may want to make something beautiful like a vase or he may want to just make something that is just plain but very useful. Either way the power to make the clay into something is completely in the potter’s hands.
As the piece turns on the wheel and the potter begins to thin out the walls he may find a piece of trash or a pebble that was not gotten out in the beginning. (Remember, this was my job) This could cause him to have to start over again. Why? First of all even if the imperfection is not visible, he will know it’s there. Also, the imperfection may be hidden from the human eye but when the piece is put in the kiln or furnace and subjected to the intense heat from the fire it could explode and ruin what would have been a beautiful or useful work.
Why must the pottery be put through the fire in the furnace? When the potter has finished turning the piece of pottery it is very fragile! Even after it dries it is still easy to break and not at all useful. Not usually very attractive. Kinda’ dull looking. Sometimes a glaze (like paint) is brushed on the piece to make it more attractive or to just give it some color or to make it shine. When the glaze is brushed on it is usually very dull and the actual color doesn’t come out until it goes through the fire of the furnace. After the piece of pottery has been subjected to the intense heat, hundreds of degrees, it will come out very beautiful and/or useful and will last forever. Pieces of pottery have been found that have withstood the elements for thousands of years.
What does all this mean to us?
We're the clay, He's the potter; the wheels--what about them? The revolving wheel represents the daily round of life, whether it is joyous or sad. It's on the wheel that the design of the potter's mind is transferred to the clay. The fire is what makes it durable and beautiful, but it can also find the flaws. Mark 9:49 says, “For everyone will be tested with fire.”
If there weren't any designs or differences in them how could we explain the tangles of life's circumstances? The potter's making them all--temperament, environment, bereavement, poverty, disappointment, misfortune, sickness. They all contribute to the perfecting of the vessel that He is fashioning on the wheel and will put through the fire. Amazing, isn't it? All of these things--bereavement, poverty,disappointment, misfortune, sickness--we say to the Lord, "Why are You doing this, Lord?" He says, "I'm making a vessel, a useful vessel."
Romans 9:21 says “When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?” Do you realize that complaints against your circumstances are really directed against the Potter who ordered them? How stupid can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you. You are only the jars he makes! Should the thing that was created say to the one who made it, "He didn't make us"? Does a jar ever say, "The potter who made me is stupid"? Isaiah 29:16
No other circumstances than those in which you find yourself as a Believer at this moment could achieve His highest beneficent purpose. What we need is not so much a change of circumstances as a changed attitude towards them.
Life is no blind whirring of wheels, but it's a combination of circumstances ordered with meticulous care by a loving Father. If we rebel against them, all we achieve is our own unhappiness and the marring of the vessel of our life.
And what about the clay? Job said in Job 33:6 “… I too have been taken from clay. A statement, which is true both materially and spiritually. Because it was made of the earth that God first formed man. "Man is but a handful of dust along the road of life," someone has said. The clay is the frail human nature. We are the raw material for the kingdom of God.
Clay is so common that it's practically valueless. It is very common stuff. It wasn't worth much of anything until they made it into a pot. And someone has said, "It is the art, which gives the value--and not the material." Left to itself clay would remain clay, but yielded to the shaping hand there are no limits to its possibilities.
Like clay, a human life is a thing of almost infinite possibilities. Geologists tell us that there are endless varieties of clay, each locality having its own peculiar varieties. No two of which can be treated the same. The heavenly Potter recognizing the fact that no two human beings are the same, doesn't deal with us as a group but bestows on each His individual and undivided attention. His dealings with each of us are unique and exclusive.
Are you willing to be molded and made and put through the fire by the Master Potter? Are you going to complain and say, "Lord, why are you doing this to me?" Or will you remember that He's shaping a vessel for His own use. And know that He will be with us and take us through the fire and make us useful and strong.
Could it be that God wants you to see that the trial you're facing today is a part of the bigger plan of shaping you into a vessel He can use?
Sunday, January 29, 2012
A Commitment to Prayer
I’d like to begin this morning by giving something away. It’s a gift certificate for Applebee’s, and it’s available to anyone who asks for it.
What did you have to do to receive the gift certificate?
* Believe the gift certificate was real (that I had the power to grant the offer)
* Believe the offer was real (that I genuinely intended to give it away to whoever wanted it)
* Exercise faith and ask for it.
Prayer is like that. The difference is that I was offering something relatively trivial. And I only had one. But God’s riches are far more valuable and they are inexhaustible. Wouldn’t you like to know how to tap into the vast riches and resources that God has made available to us?
This morning I’d like to continue our series on PRAYER as we look at the core value of "Commitment to Prayer - Acting on the conviction that God hears and answers prayer."
How do we receive God’s blessings?
1. We ask.
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
" ….you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it." James 4:2
People will do all kind of things to gain God’s favor and to receive His blessings, especially when they are in great need or in extreme danger ["God, I’ll do anything if you’ll just ____"]. But God doesn’t make “deals”.
Ironically, while people are often willing to do great things in return for God’s blessing, things God has not asked for and does not want; they are unwilling to do the one small thing that He actually requires – prayer! Why? Because they want to earn it. They think they can earn it. They’re operating on a merit basis, not a grace basis. The problem is that they’re using the wrong country’s "currency". The currency of this world is works, merit, getting what you deserve. The currency of God’s kingdom is grace. [It’s like going to some South Sea Island where the economic system is based on barter and livestock, and trying to buy things with green pieces of paper. They would laugh at you. And then eat you.]
In reality, it insults God when we try to pay for His blessings with our works. First, because it makes His relationship with us one of economics, rather than love [Like trying to "pay" for dinner at friend’s house]. Second, because what we have to offer is so pitifully small that it devalues His blessings.
People are willing to do anything except what God asks, because His way requires humility. It requires an acknowledgement that we are dependent on God, that we are indebted to Him, obligated to Him; that we can never repay Him for His blessings to us. It’s like people who refuse to let you give them anything without giving you something equivalent back. Everything has to be a "quid pro quo," (something for something ) so they never feel obligated to anyone.
So they bargain with God, make sacrifices, give money, etc. etc. But they refuse to do the one small thing that God requires. In reality, that one small thing is the biggest, most difficult thing that God could possibly ask of them. Because it requires them to humble themselves and come to God, hat in hand, asking His mercy and grace. And their pride just cannot permit them to do that.
People sometimes don’t ask because they think that God already knows what they need, so why bother? This misses the point. The purpose of prayer is not just for us to get what we want. What matters most is our relationship with God. The purpose of prayer is for us to be blessed by God in such a way that He is honored and glorified, and we grow spiritually.
God is not honored when people enjoy His blessings and give Him no credit. Or worse, when they give the credit to someone else - such as themselves, or luck, or chance. Prayer reminds us that all the good things we enjoy, and the good things we seek, all must ultimately come from God. There is no other source for good things.
" Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow." - James 1:17
But when we pray, and God answers our prayers, He receives the glory, and we grow in faith, hope, and love. That’s the point. Not just getting what we want.
How do we receive God’s blessings?
2. We ask in faith.
6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:6-8
6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6
We cannot come to God with an attitude of, "Well, I’ll try praying to God, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try something else." That isn’t faith. That’s just covering your bases. God is not willing to be just one option among many. He will not be satisfied with a piece of our love, a piece of our devotion, a piece of our trust. He wants all of it. He claims His rightful place at the center of our lives. He demands that we trust in Him, and Him alone.
God is not willing to be put on the shelf with all of the other deities, to be installed as part of our personal temple dedicated to all the gods.
[I’ll try praying to God to meet my needs, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try a little Zen Buddhism, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try wealth and power, then meditation, then Scientology, then pleasure, then self-empowermeny, then etc.]. It’s like asking five women to marry you, and then waiting to see which one says, "yes." It’s an insult. On the contrary, we must place our faith and trust in God alone, with no backup and no contingency plan.
The key to answered prayer is not the amount or strength of our faith, but the object of our faith.
20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew 17:20
Anybody moved any mountains lately?
The power doesn’t come from our faith; the power comes from the One in whom we have faith.
How do we receive God’s blessings?
3. We ask in Jesus’ name.
24 You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. John 16:24
What does it mean to ask in "Jesus’ name"? Does it mean that we tack those words on to the end of our prayers, like some kind of magical formula or incantation? No.
To ask in Jesus’ name is to come to God on the basis of His worthiness and His righteousness rather than our own. It is a recognition that the grounds of our acceptance before God, the reason that He is willing to hear and answer our prayers, is this: that the separation between us and God caused by our sin has been bridged by Christ. He paid the price of death for our sins, our guilt was transferred to Him and His perfect righteousness was transferred to us. As a result, we are no longer excluded from God’s presence, but instead He welcomes us. We come to Him, not on the basis of our own merit or worth, but clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Are you asking? Are you trusting? Can you come to God in Jesus’ name?
What did you have to do to receive the gift certificate?
* Believe the gift certificate was real (that I had the power to grant the offer)
* Believe the offer was real (that I genuinely intended to give it away to whoever wanted it)
* Exercise faith and ask for it.
Prayer is like that. The difference is that I was offering something relatively trivial. And I only had one. But God’s riches are far more valuable and they are inexhaustible. Wouldn’t you like to know how to tap into the vast riches and resources that God has made available to us?
This morning I’d like to continue our series on PRAYER as we look at the core value of "Commitment to Prayer - Acting on the conviction that God hears and answers prayer."
How do we receive God’s blessings?
1. We ask.
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
" ….you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it." James 4:2
People will do all kind of things to gain God’s favor and to receive His blessings, especially when they are in great need or in extreme danger ["God, I’ll do anything if you’ll just ____"]. But God doesn’t make “deals”.
Ironically, while people are often willing to do great things in return for God’s blessing, things God has not asked for and does not want; they are unwilling to do the one small thing that He actually requires – prayer! Why? Because they want to earn it. They think they can earn it. They’re operating on a merit basis, not a grace basis. The problem is that they’re using the wrong country’s "currency". The currency of this world is works, merit, getting what you deserve. The currency of God’s kingdom is grace. [It’s like going to some South Sea Island where the economic system is based on barter and livestock, and trying to buy things with green pieces of paper. They would laugh at you. And then eat you.]
In reality, it insults God when we try to pay for His blessings with our works. First, because it makes His relationship with us one of economics, rather than love [Like trying to "pay" for dinner at friend’s house]. Second, because what we have to offer is so pitifully small that it devalues His blessings.
People are willing to do anything except what God asks, because His way requires humility. It requires an acknowledgement that we are dependent on God, that we are indebted to Him, obligated to Him; that we can never repay Him for His blessings to us. It’s like people who refuse to let you give them anything without giving you something equivalent back. Everything has to be a "quid pro quo," (something for something ) so they never feel obligated to anyone.
So they bargain with God, make sacrifices, give money, etc. etc. But they refuse to do the one small thing that God requires. In reality, that one small thing is the biggest, most difficult thing that God could possibly ask of them. Because it requires them to humble themselves and come to God, hat in hand, asking His mercy and grace. And their pride just cannot permit them to do that.
People sometimes don’t ask because they think that God already knows what they need, so why bother? This misses the point. The purpose of prayer is not just for us to get what we want. What matters most is our relationship with God. The purpose of prayer is for us to be blessed by God in such a way that He is honored and glorified, and we grow spiritually.
God is not honored when people enjoy His blessings and give Him no credit. Or worse, when they give the credit to someone else - such as themselves, or luck, or chance. Prayer reminds us that all the good things we enjoy, and the good things we seek, all must ultimately come from God. There is no other source for good things.
" Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow." - James 1:17
But when we pray, and God answers our prayers, He receives the glory, and we grow in faith, hope, and love. That’s the point. Not just getting what we want.
How do we receive God’s blessings?
2. We ask in faith.
6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:6-8
6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6
We cannot come to God with an attitude of, "Well, I’ll try praying to God, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try something else." That isn’t faith. That’s just covering your bases. God is not willing to be just one option among many. He will not be satisfied with a piece of our love, a piece of our devotion, a piece of our trust. He wants all of it. He claims His rightful place at the center of our lives. He demands that we trust in Him, and Him alone.
God is not willing to be put on the shelf with all of the other deities, to be installed as part of our personal temple dedicated to all the gods.
[I’ll try praying to God to meet my needs, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try a little Zen Buddhism, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try wealth and power, then meditation, then Scientology, then pleasure, then self-empowermeny, then etc.]. It’s like asking five women to marry you, and then waiting to see which one says, "yes." It’s an insult. On the contrary, we must place our faith and trust in God alone, with no backup and no contingency plan.
The key to answered prayer is not the amount or strength of our faith, but the object of our faith.
20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” Matthew 17:20
Anybody moved any mountains lately?
The power doesn’t come from our faith; the power comes from the One in whom we have faith.
How do we receive God’s blessings?
3. We ask in Jesus’ name.
24 You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. John 16:24
What does it mean to ask in "Jesus’ name"? Does it mean that we tack those words on to the end of our prayers, like some kind of magical formula or incantation? No.
To ask in Jesus’ name is to come to God on the basis of His worthiness and His righteousness rather than our own. It is a recognition that the grounds of our acceptance before God, the reason that He is willing to hear and answer our prayers, is this: that the separation between us and God caused by our sin has been bridged by Christ. He paid the price of death for our sins, our guilt was transferred to Him and His perfect righteousness was transferred to us. As a result, we are no longer excluded from God’s presence, but instead He welcomes us. We come to Him, not on the basis of our own merit or worth, but clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Are you asking? Are you trusting? Can you come to God in Jesus’ name?
Sunday, January 22, 2012
A Role Model For Prayer
Prayer
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16
As I mentioned last week in class the plan this year is to place more emphasis on prayer. It is obvious writers of the New Testament felt that prayer was very important since in the NLT the base word “pray” is found 176 times.
So, pray first for ourselves, then our family, our friends, Our neighbors, our class, our church leaders, our church, other people, other churches, our community, our state and leaders, our country and leaders and then the world. And, as hard is as may be, our enemies. “Pray for those who persecute you!” Matt 5:44.
A few years ago we brought a cross to our room to bring and nail prayer requests to it. Then as often happens, the cross was moved to the back. Today, it is in the center of room and everything we need to “nail” our problems/burdens, concerns and prayers to the cross, is available. We will also extend this ministry to our “extended” internet WhoSoEvers. If they send us an email request of any type, it will be “nailed” to the cross. If requested, we will read in class but any others will be kept confidential. For an unspoken request we can just write that or just nail a blank request to the Cross. God doesn’t need to see or hear a prayer. He already knows.
Several Bible Scriptures that deal with burdens are:
• Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. Psalms 5:22
• Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28-30:
• Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6
Now today’s lesson: A Role Model For Prayer
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile. When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying.
Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot), and Judas (son of James). They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus. Acts 1:12-14
In his book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala reminds us that the church in the book of Acts was born out of a prayer meeting, and there are more than 30 references to prayer in Acts.1 If we as Christians are looking for a role model for prayer, there is no better example than the early followers of Jesus in the book of Acts. In Acts, we see four key features of the early church at prayer.
The Early Church Prayed Dependently (Acts 1:12-14)
Jesus told His disciples to go from Jerusalem to the remotest parts of the world as His witnesses. If twelve apostles and a hundred or so disciples are going to reach the world, they had better get busy. But Jesus he said to them before He ascended to Heaven: “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5
So the first thing they do when Jesus ascends back to heaven is lock themselves up in a room, shut themselves off from everything, and pray for ten days for the power of the Holy Spirit. They understood that they needed supernatural power for a superhuman work.
The most important lesson we can ever learn about prayer is that we are absolutely dependent on God. Jesus tells us in John 15:5b, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." The tricky part is that we can do lots of things on our own, but the impact and fruit of our work is "nothing" unless Jesus empowers us. Psalm 132:2 says: "We keep looking to the LORD our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master.” A slave is completely dependent on his master, and that's where we stand in our need for the Lord.
Once back “in the day” when we were racing, I was on the track for practice and, man, was the car running great. I then noticed I was being “black flagged”, which means come into the pit immediately. Not real happy, I pulled in and asked my crew what was the problem. It seems that I had left my helmet off. Just as a racer would never drive without a helmet, we as Christians shouldn't think of facing life or doing ministry without prayer underlying everything we do.
Jim Cymbala reminds us: "God is attracted to weakness. He can't resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him. Our weakness, in fact, makes room for his power."
The Early Church Prayed Corporately (Together)
“All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.” Acts 2:42)
Some will say they don’t believe in prayer meetings because Jesus told His disciples that “when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private” (Matt 6:6). But as I have said many times in class we can’t just read part of the Bible. We need to read in all in context. In Acts 1, the disciples didn't go their own way and pray for the Holy Spirit to come down — "They all met together and were constantly united in prayer”. Acts 2 tells us that they met daily in their homes and were devoted to prayer. They gathered at the Temple (Acts 3:1) and later in the synagogues at the regular times of prayer, not just as a testimony to their Jewish neighbors but because they needed those times together for their own survival.
Often the concept of corporate prayer clashes with our independence and individualism. We're all a little like the guy who had to dress up a mannequin with a baseball cap so that he could drive in the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane during rush hour. We prefer to do things alone and by ourselves.
One pastor said that a man in the church shared that he would never forget watching his father and the other men in the church going out into the wheat fields together and praying for God to bring revival to their congregation. We don't have time for those kinds of experiences today and we're missing something when our busyness and isolation keeps from experiencing real community and fellowship in prayer.
The Early Church Prayed Powerfully (4:23-31; 16:25-26)
When the early church prayed, powerful things happened. Jesus told his disciples that their prayers could move mountains — we never see mountains moving in Acts but we do see a couple of buildings shaken on their foundations. In Acts 4, the disciples get their first real taste of persecution. When the authorities commanded them to stop preaching, the church started praying.
Verse 31 gives us a series of cause and effect statements about what happened when they prayed. They prayed and the building was shaken. They prayed and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were filled with the Spirit and they preached the gospel with even greater power. If we had a building move at one of our prayer meetings, we would either have a lot more or a lot less people at the next meeting. Incredibly, Acts 4 is not the only place in the book where prayer is more powerful than a building. Paul and Silas are having a midnight prayer meeting in the prison at Philippi that starts an earthquake that shook open the cell doors.(Acts 16:25-26).
There are more than a dozen times in Acts where it tells us that people were amazed, in awe, or in fear of what God was doing in and through his church. Outsiders were afraid of getting too close to the followers of the Way because they didn't know what God was going to do next. Outsiders today are more likely to yawn and stretch when they think of what goes on in the church. But, the power to leave even unbelievers amazed at what God is doing is still there — if we ask for it.
Mother Theresa was once crossing the border into Israel when a guard asked her if she was carrying any weapons. That was a pretty strange question for a nun wearing a habit, but she looked the guard in the eyes and defiantly said, "Yes, I have my prayer books." We want the power of God, but sometimes we forget where the power comes from. We think it comes from the pastor's preaching, from our strategies and purpose statements, or from our new buildings and facilities. We are deluded into thinking that we can change the culture if we elect the right people to political office. Those types of power are pretend power compared to what the followers of Jesus have in the book of Acts.
It is very serious when people with broken lives and hurting hearts come to churches that have turned away from their real source of power - prayer.
The Early Church Prayed Imperfectly (Acts 12:1-17)
This final point of the lesson may seem anti-climatic, but it may be the most important thing we talk about today. There is a great reminder in Acts 12 that God not only answers prayer — He answers imperfect prayers.
We tend to idealize the early church in Acts, but here's a well-kept secret: the first Christians were not perfect. They argued over whose widows got the better food service and whom to take or not take on their missions trips. They fell asleep in church windows and were distracted by the weighty issues of circumcision and kosher foods.
Their faith wasn't perfect, either. You have to admire that the disciples were committed enough to have an all-night prayer meeting for Peter's release from prison, but the reaction when their prayers are answered is priceless. Rhoda the slave girl reports that Peter is at the front door and their response is: "You've lost your mind!" They can't compute that God might have actually done the very thing they were asking for. They were devoted enough to pray all night but doubting enough to not believe that their prayers would really make any difference.
We pray that way all the time — believing one moment and doubting the next. Let me give you a challenge — if you only have enough faith to pray and there is nothing left over to believe that God will answer, then pray anyway and see if God does something to surprise you.
We don't need to time-travel back to the first-century to become the people that God wants us to be, but we do need to learn to pray like the early church prayed. When we follow their example in prayer, God will work powerfully — even when our prayers are less than perfect.
The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16
As I mentioned last week in class the plan this year is to place more emphasis on prayer. It is obvious writers of the New Testament felt that prayer was very important since in the NLT the base word “pray” is found 176 times.
So, pray first for ourselves, then our family, our friends, Our neighbors, our class, our church leaders, our church, other people, other churches, our community, our state and leaders, our country and leaders and then the world. And, as hard is as may be, our enemies. “Pray for those who persecute you!” Matt 5:44.
A few years ago we brought a cross to our room to bring and nail prayer requests to it. Then as often happens, the cross was moved to the back. Today, it is in the center of room and everything we need to “nail” our problems/burdens, concerns and prayers to the cross, is available. We will also extend this ministry to our “extended” internet WhoSoEvers. If they send us an email request of any type, it will be “nailed” to the cross. If requested, we will read in class but any others will be kept confidential. For an unspoken request we can just write that or just nail a blank request to the Cross. God doesn’t need to see or hear a prayer. He already knows.
Several Bible Scriptures that deal with burdens are:
• Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. Psalms 5:22
• Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28-30:
• Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6
Now today’s lesson: A Role Model For Prayer
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile. When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying.
Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot), and Judas (son of James). They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus. Acts 1:12-14
In his book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala reminds us that the church in the book of Acts was born out of a prayer meeting, and there are more than 30 references to prayer in Acts.1 If we as Christians are looking for a role model for prayer, there is no better example than the early followers of Jesus in the book of Acts. In Acts, we see four key features of the early church at prayer.
The Early Church Prayed Dependently (Acts 1:12-14)
Jesus told His disciples to go from Jerusalem to the remotest parts of the world as His witnesses. If twelve apostles and a hundred or so disciples are going to reach the world, they had better get busy. But Jesus he said to them before He ascended to Heaven: “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:4-5
So the first thing they do when Jesus ascends back to heaven is lock themselves up in a room, shut themselves off from everything, and pray for ten days for the power of the Holy Spirit. They understood that they needed supernatural power for a superhuman work.
The most important lesson we can ever learn about prayer is that we are absolutely dependent on God. Jesus tells us in John 15:5b, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." The tricky part is that we can do lots of things on our own, but the impact and fruit of our work is "nothing" unless Jesus empowers us. Psalm 132:2 says: "We keep looking to the LORD our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master.” A slave is completely dependent on his master, and that's where we stand in our need for the Lord.
Once back “in the day” when we were racing, I was on the track for practice and, man, was the car running great. I then noticed I was being “black flagged”, which means come into the pit immediately. Not real happy, I pulled in and asked my crew what was the problem. It seems that I had left my helmet off. Just as a racer would never drive without a helmet, we as Christians shouldn't think of facing life or doing ministry without prayer underlying everything we do.
Jim Cymbala reminds us: "God is attracted to weakness. He can't resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need him. Our weakness, in fact, makes room for his power."
The Early Church Prayed Corporately (Together)
“All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.” Acts 2:42)
Some will say they don’t believe in prayer meetings because Jesus told His disciples that “when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private” (Matt 6:6). But as I have said many times in class we can’t just read part of the Bible. We need to read in all in context. In Acts 1, the disciples didn't go their own way and pray for the Holy Spirit to come down — "They all met together and were constantly united in prayer”. Acts 2 tells us that they met daily in their homes and were devoted to prayer. They gathered at the Temple (Acts 3:1) and later in the synagogues at the regular times of prayer, not just as a testimony to their Jewish neighbors but because they needed those times together for their own survival.
Often the concept of corporate prayer clashes with our independence and individualism. We're all a little like the guy who had to dress up a mannequin with a baseball cap so that he could drive in the HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane during rush hour. We prefer to do things alone and by ourselves.
One pastor said that a man in the church shared that he would never forget watching his father and the other men in the church going out into the wheat fields together and praying for God to bring revival to their congregation. We don't have time for those kinds of experiences today and we're missing something when our busyness and isolation keeps from experiencing real community and fellowship in prayer.
The Early Church Prayed Powerfully (4:23-31; 16:25-26)
When the early church prayed, powerful things happened. Jesus told his disciples that their prayers could move mountains — we never see mountains moving in Acts but we do see a couple of buildings shaken on their foundations. In Acts 4, the disciples get their first real taste of persecution. When the authorities commanded them to stop preaching, the church started praying.
Verse 31 gives us a series of cause and effect statements about what happened when they prayed. They prayed and the building was shaken. They prayed and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were filled with the Spirit and they preached the gospel with even greater power. If we had a building move at one of our prayer meetings, we would either have a lot more or a lot less people at the next meeting. Incredibly, Acts 4 is not the only place in the book where prayer is more powerful than a building. Paul and Silas are having a midnight prayer meeting in the prison at Philippi that starts an earthquake that shook open the cell doors.(Acts 16:25-26).
There are more than a dozen times in Acts where it tells us that people were amazed, in awe, or in fear of what God was doing in and through his church. Outsiders were afraid of getting too close to the followers of the Way because they didn't know what God was going to do next. Outsiders today are more likely to yawn and stretch when they think of what goes on in the church. But, the power to leave even unbelievers amazed at what God is doing is still there — if we ask for it.
Mother Theresa was once crossing the border into Israel when a guard asked her if she was carrying any weapons. That was a pretty strange question for a nun wearing a habit, but she looked the guard in the eyes and defiantly said, "Yes, I have my prayer books." We want the power of God, but sometimes we forget where the power comes from. We think it comes from the pastor's preaching, from our strategies and purpose statements, or from our new buildings and facilities. We are deluded into thinking that we can change the culture if we elect the right people to political office. Those types of power are pretend power compared to what the followers of Jesus have in the book of Acts.
It is very serious when people with broken lives and hurting hearts come to churches that have turned away from their real source of power - prayer.
The Early Church Prayed Imperfectly (Acts 12:1-17)
This final point of the lesson may seem anti-climatic, but it may be the most important thing we talk about today. There is a great reminder in Acts 12 that God not only answers prayer — He answers imperfect prayers.
We tend to idealize the early church in Acts, but here's a well-kept secret: the first Christians were not perfect. They argued over whose widows got the better food service and whom to take or not take on their missions trips. They fell asleep in church windows and were distracted by the weighty issues of circumcision and kosher foods.
Their faith wasn't perfect, either. You have to admire that the disciples were committed enough to have an all-night prayer meeting for Peter's release from prison, but the reaction when their prayers are answered is priceless. Rhoda the slave girl reports that Peter is at the front door and their response is: "You've lost your mind!" They can't compute that God might have actually done the very thing they were asking for. They were devoted enough to pray all night but doubting enough to not believe that their prayers would really make any difference.
We pray that way all the time — believing one moment and doubting the next. Let me give you a challenge — if you only have enough faith to pray and there is nothing left over to believe that God will answer, then pray anyway and see if God does something to surprise you.
We don't need to time-travel back to the first-century to become the people that God wants us to be, but we do need to learn to pray like the early church prayed. When we follow their example in prayer, God will work powerfully — even when our prayers are less than perfect.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The Praying Church: What If...
A few years ago I read a book “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire”. In the book the author, Pastor Jim Cymbala, tells how as a young minister in a struggling church that was on the verge of closing down he heard from God. He writes, Then quietly but forcefully, in words not heard with my ear but deep within my spirit, I sensed God speaking. “If you and your wife will lead my people to pray and call upon my name, you will never lack for something fresh to preach. I will supply all the money that’s needed, both for the church and your family, and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response.” They begin a Tuesday night prayer meeting that now often exceeds any one service on Sunday in number. You may have heard of this “little” church – The Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in New York.
So this brings us to the subject of our lesson today - What do you think Christ wants this church to be?
We all believe in prayer, don’t we? Even if we don’t pray very much, we still believe in prayer. So what would happen in our churches if every day, every member and the church were prayed for by someone?
What would it do to our worship? What would it do to our preaching? What would it do to our ministries? What would it do to our evangelism? What would it do to our relationships?
Our churches wouldn’t be the same.
Let’s take a look at what was on Paul’s mind in Ephesians 6. He calls Christians to put on the whole armor of God so that we can fight and win the spiritual battles we face every day (vv. 10-17). Then without any break he says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Eph. 6:18 NIV). In the School of Christian Living, this is Prayer 101. This is the “how to” not the “why” of prayer. There is nothing difficult to understand in what he writes.
It’s easy to see how this fits in the context. Prayer is our ultimate weapon in spiritual warfare. It is not part of the armor; it is that which makes the armor effective. Let’s look at some fundamental facts about Christian prayer.
I. There are many ways to pray and they are all valid.
Paul says we should pray “with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Eph. 6:18 NIV) We can analyze prayer from many angles.
We can talk about the content of prayer, such as adoration, thanksgiving, meditation, confession and petition.
We can talk about the posture of prayer, such as sitting, standing, hands uplifted, eyes open, eyes closed, walking, kneeling, and stretched out before the Lord.
We can talk about the associations of prayer, which means we can pray alone or in a small group or in a worship service or in a concert of prayer or over the Internet or over the phone or by email or in a handwritten letter.
We can talk about the style of prayer. It may be formal, informal, written, recited, conversational, sentence prayers, “Thank you” prayers, “Lord, have mercy” prayers, short prayers, long prayers, prayers sung, prayers spoken, prayers written, prayers chanted, prayers offered spontaneously or prayers memorized.
We can talk about the places of prayer, such as in the morning, during your devotions, around the dinner table, in the car (please don't do this with eyes closed), on the phone, during a worship service, in the street, sitting in the pew, or at a ball game.
We can talk about the objects of prayer, such as confession and restoration, for physical or spiritual or emotional healing, for a financial need, for a broken relationship to be healed, for salvation, for spiritual growth, for the spread of the gospel, for a friend in need, for the church, for the leaders of our nation, for our friends and, yes, for our enemies.
Prayer may be as varied as the needs of the heart. The true measure of prayer is not its form or content or style or location or length or beauty of expression. The real question is, does it come from the heart? Is it sincere? Are we truly seeking the Lord? If so, then we may claim the promise of James 5:16 NLT that the “earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”Prayer may be as varied as the needs of the heart.
There are many ways to pray. If we pray from the heart in Jesus’ name, then the Father is pleased and he inclines his heart to hear us when we call on him.
II. The best time to prayer is when you feel the need to pray.
That’s simple, isn’t it? Paul instructs us to pray “on all occasions.” This means a particular moment when we feel our need for God. It speaks of coming to a crossroads, a time of need, a sense of our own weakness, and crying out to the Lord in prayer.
Sometimes we approach prayer superstitiously, as if we should only pray about “big things.” We don’t want to bother God with the “small stuff.” How foolish we are. He’s God! It’s all “small stuff” to him.
Aren’t we glad to “hear from our children”, then how much more is our Heavenly Father glad to hear from us? When our kids are in trouble and need our help, we want them to call and let us know. It’s the same with the Lord. He waits to hear from his children. And because we are his children, he will never turn us away. God is near us when we need him most.
III. Effective prayer requires sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
Paul says we are to pray “in the Spirit.” That means “under the influence of the Holy Spirit.” Think about it this way. Praying in the Spirit means following the Spirit’s guidance as to when to pray. Because prayer itself is the language of heaven, the impulse to pray comes from the Holy Spirit. He not only invites us to pray, he also incites us to pray. Sometimes you will think, “I should pray about that.” Don’t ever brush that thought away. Do it. Go ahead and pray right then. Sometimes people may say, “I wish we could pray about that.” Take that as a message from the Holy Spirit and go ahead and pray. These impulses to pray may come at any time . . .
When we are on the phone . . .
When we are talking with a friend . . .
When we are listening to the radio . . .
When we are sitting in church . . .
When we are having a sleepless night . . .
When we are driving . . .
If you think about praying, go ahead and pray. You don’t have to pray out loud. You can pray to the Lord without speaking any words at all, and the Lord will hear you from heaven. When the Lord speaks to you and says, “Pray,” don’t say “No.” Go ahead and pray.
And pray about the things the Lord lays on your heart. Don’t be ashamed or worried that you won’t say the right thing. The Holy Spirit knows your heart and intercedes for us with wordless groaning (Romans 8:26-27). He comes alongside to help us when we pray so that our feeble prayers rise with power and enter the courts of heaven to be carried to the Throne of Grace. As an old gospel song says, sometimes we just need to “have a little talk with Jesus.” That song along says, “When you feel a little prayer wheel turning.” It’s hard to explain exactly what that means, but I know what that’s like. You can be sure that the Lord is turning the “prayer wheel” in your heart and moving you to pray.
So let’s not make this mysterious. Whenever you feel an inner urge to pray, do it! We would all pray a lot more every day if we became sensitive to the impulse of the Spirit in our lives.
IV. If you want your prayers answered, stay awake and keep on praying.
“Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” (v. 18) Sometimes we mess around in prayer because we think it doesn’t matter, when in reality we are sentries standing guard on the front lines of spiritual combat.
Whenever you feel an inner urge to pray, do it!
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to be distracted when you pray? Just as you bow your head, the phone rings, or your pager beeps, or some music distracts you, or you suddenly remember that you have to check the roast in the oven. A thousand things come crowding into your mind. Sometimes it seems as if the devil’s best work comes when we decide to pray. He unloads his full armory of distractions against us.
V. The Wider Our Circle of Concern, the Wider the Results.
Paul instructs us to pray “all believers everywhere.” This means we need to pull ourselves out of the rut of praying only for ourselves and our family. It’s perfectly legitimate to pray for those closest to you. But you have not exhausted the power of prayer if you stop there.
If you pray for your friends, that’s good.
If you pray for your church, that’s also good.
If you pray for missionaries you know and love, that’s even better.
If you pray for other churches in your area, that’s wonderful..”.
Some of us who know a little theology would do well to get an advanced degree in “kneeology.”
There is always more than enough to pray about if only we would open our eyes and look around.
Let’s go back to our earlier question. What would happen in our churches if everyone in the congregation and our church was prayed for every day? What would it do for our worship? Our outreach? Our relationships? Our faith? Our vision for the future? Our leadership?
Remember that Jesus said . . . “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” (Matthew 21:13 NIV) Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that were true of our church? Every church?
I think God has more for us than we have ever dreamed. What if we really started to pray?
So this brings us to the subject of our lesson today - What do you think Christ wants this church to be?
We all believe in prayer, don’t we? Even if we don’t pray very much, we still believe in prayer. So what would happen in our churches if every day, every member and the church were prayed for by someone?
What would it do to our worship? What would it do to our preaching? What would it do to our ministries? What would it do to our evangelism? What would it do to our relationships?
Our churches wouldn’t be the same.
Let’s take a look at what was on Paul’s mind in Ephesians 6. He calls Christians to put on the whole armor of God so that we can fight and win the spiritual battles we face every day (vv. 10-17). Then without any break he says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” (Eph. 6:18 NIV). In the School of Christian Living, this is Prayer 101. This is the “how to” not the “why” of prayer. There is nothing difficult to understand in what he writes.
It’s easy to see how this fits in the context. Prayer is our ultimate weapon in spiritual warfare. It is not part of the armor; it is that which makes the armor effective. Let’s look at some fundamental facts about Christian prayer.
I. There are many ways to pray and they are all valid.
Paul says we should pray “with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Eph. 6:18 NIV) We can analyze prayer from many angles.
We can talk about the content of prayer, such as adoration, thanksgiving, meditation, confession and petition.
We can talk about the posture of prayer, such as sitting, standing, hands uplifted, eyes open, eyes closed, walking, kneeling, and stretched out before the Lord.
We can talk about the associations of prayer, which means we can pray alone or in a small group or in a worship service or in a concert of prayer or over the Internet or over the phone or by email or in a handwritten letter.
We can talk about the style of prayer. It may be formal, informal, written, recited, conversational, sentence prayers, “Thank you” prayers, “Lord, have mercy” prayers, short prayers, long prayers, prayers sung, prayers spoken, prayers written, prayers chanted, prayers offered spontaneously or prayers memorized.
We can talk about the places of prayer, such as in the morning, during your devotions, around the dinner table, in the car (please don't do this with eyes closed), on the phone, during a worship service, in the street, sitting in the pew, or at a ball game.
We can talk about the objects of prayer, such as confession and restoration, for physical or spiritual or emotional healing, for a financial need, for a broken relationship to be healed, for salvation, for spiritual growth, for the spread of the gospel, for a friend in need, for the church, for the leaders of our nation, for our friends and, yes, for our enemies.
Prayer may be as varied as the needs of the heart. The true measure of prayer is not its form or content or style or location or length or beauty of expression. The real question is, does it come from the heart? Is it sincere? Are we truly seeking the Lord? If so, then we may claim the promise of James 5:16 NLT that the “earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”Prayer may be as varied as the needs of the heart.
There are many ways to pray. If we pray from the heart in Jesus’ name, then the Father is pleased and he inclines his heart to hear us when we call on him.
II. The best time to prayer is when you feel the need to pray.
That’s simple, isn’t it? Paul instructs us to pray “on all occasions.” This means a particular moment when we feel our need for God. It speaks of coming to a crossroads, a time of need, a sense of our own weakness, and crying out to the Lord in prayer.
Sometimes we approach prayer superstitiously, as if we should only pray about “big things.” We don’t want to bother God with the “small stuff.” How foolish we are. He’s God! It’s all “small stuff” to him.
Aren’t we glad to “hear from our children”, then how much more is our Heavenly Father glad to hear from us? When our kids are in trouble and need our help, we want them to call and let us know. It’s the same with the Lord. He waits to hear from his children. And because we are his children, he will never turn us away. God is near us when we need him most.
III. Effective prayer requires sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
Paul says we are to pray “in the Spirit.” That means “under the influence of the Holy Spirit.” Think about it this way. Praying in the Spirit means following the Spirit’s guidance as to when to pray. Because prayer itself is the language of heaven, the impulse to pray comes from the Holy Spirit. He not only invites us to pray, he also incites us to pray. Sometimes you will think, “I should pray about that.” Don’t ever brush that thought away. Do it. Go ahead and pray right then. Sometimes people may say, “I wish we could pray about that.” Take that as a message from the Holy Spirit and go ahead and pray. These impulses to pray may come at any time . . .
When we are on the phone . . .
When we are talking with a friend . . .
When we are listening to the radio . . .
When we are sitting in church . . .
When we are having a sleepless night . . .
When we are driving . . .
If you think about praying, go ahead and pray. You don’t have to pray out loud. You can pray to the Lord without speaking any words at all, and the Lord will hear you from heaven. When the Lord speaks to you and says, “Pray,” don’t say “No.” Go ahead and pray.
And pray about the things the Lord lays on your heart. Don’t be ashamed or worried that you won’t say the right thing. The Holy Spirit knows your heart and intercedes for us with wordless groaning (Romans 8:26-27). He comes alongside to help us when we pray so that our feeble prayers rise with power and enter the courts of heaven to be carried to the Throne of Grace. As an old gospel song says, sometimes we just need to “have a little talk with Jesus.” That song along says, “When you feel a little prayer wheel turning.” It’s hard to explain exactly what that means, but I know what that’s like. You can be sure that the Lord is turning the “prayer wheel” in your heart and moving you to pray.
So let’s not make this mysterious. Whenever you feel an inner urge to pray, do it! We would all pray a lot more every day if we became sensitive to the impulse of the Spirit in our lives.
IV. If you want your prayers answered, stay awake and keep on praying.
“Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” (v. 18) Sometimes we mess around in prayer because we think it doesn’t matter, when in reality we are sentries standing guard on the front lines of spiritual combat.
Whenever you feel an inner urge to pray, do it!
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to be distracted when you pray? Just as you bow your head, the phone rings, or your pager beeps, or some music distracts you, or you suddenly remember that you have to check the roast in the oven. A thousand things come crowding into your mind. Sometimes it seems as if the devil’s best work comes when we decide to pray. He unloads his full armory of distractions against us.
V. The Wider Our Circle of Concern, the Wider the Results.
Paul instructs us to pray “all believers everywhere.” This means we need to pull ourselves out of the rut of praying only for ourselves and our family. It’s perfectly legitimate to pray for those closest to you. But you have not exhausted the power of prayer if you stop there.
If you pray for your friends, that’s good.
If you pray for your church, that’s also good.
If you pray for missionaries you know and love, that’s even better.
If you pray for other churches in your area, that’s wonderful..”.
Some of us who know a little theology would do well to get an advanced degree in “kneeology.”
There is always more than enough to pray about if only we would open our eyes and look around.
Let’s go back to our earlier question. What would happen in our churches if everyone in the congregation and our church was prayed for every day? What would it do for our worship? Our outreach? Our relationships? Our faith? Our vision for the future? Our leadership?
Remember that Jesus said . . . “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” (Matthew 21:13 NIV) Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that were true of our church? Every church?
I think God has more for us than we have ever dreamed. What if we really started to pray?
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Permission to Pursue What You Love
There are two books out that that talk about an often neglected biblical principle. It is often called the principle of "vocation" or work. The first book is Work Matters by Pastor Tom Nelson (Christ Community Church, Leewood, Kansas). The second was The Cure for the Common Life by best-selling author and pastor, Max Lucado.
While both books are different -- Nelson fully fleshes out the “theology” of work while Lucado illustrates the uniqueness of every human being created in God's image -- they both arrive at an important conclusion: God has uniquely gifted, wired, called, and shaped every human being for a specific purpose on this earth, to glorify Him.
This may seem like something we always hear in church or a tired Christian cliché. But we often do not always comprehend two powerful ideas that come out of our uniqueness: work was ordained by God and is a form of worship and that God implants in us certain unique skills, passions, and gifts that make our lives unique.
We will expand on this concept today because it is very important for us to understand our purpose. Embracing God's unique design involves pushing back against a cultural lie about ourselves and a church lie about ourselves.
The Cultural Lie
On the one hand, you have the cultural expression that "you can be whatever you want to be, whatever you set your heart to do." This has been echoed in movies, books, motivational speeches and sometimes even from the pulpit. But we all know that this isn't really true. Supposed we really wanted to play on the pro golf circuit. Maybe play as well as Tiger Woods. We could play 18 holes everyday for years but would never make it. So we can't actually be whatever we want to be, can we?
The Church Lie
But the opposite of this cultural lie is a church lie. It's a pushback against the dreams that tell us to follow our hearts. It's the equal and opposite idea that because our hearts are so wicked, we can't trust them and therefore what we like to do, what we're good at doing, what we have a passion to do -- this can't possibly be what God wants us to be. This lie might go something like this: You can't be anything you want to be. In some ways, this may be more dangerous than the first lie in the sense that lots of Christian kids grow up forced into a mold set by parents or pastors or others. Every young boy must aspire to be a pastor or in "full-time" Christian service, otherwise he's not serving God. Every girl must aspire to be a pastor's wife or in some kind of acceptable full-time ministry or she is not serving the Lord. The guilt goes like this: How can you pursue a career in law or business or entertainment when across the world people are dying and going to hell?
And so you have a lot of people who feel they are supposed to ignore their gifts, their skills, their passions and they plunge into full-time ministry when they really have no aptitude for it. And as a result, not only do they suffer, but God's people suffer. You've taken a skilled person out of the environment where they might have had the most impact (law, business, medical field, carpenter, plumber, etc) and you've placed them, like a square peg in a round hole, in ministry where the people are suffering under the leadership of someone who wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.
The Biblical Third Way
So is there an alternative to the world's false "You can be what you want to be" fantasies and the church's "Don't dream, don't trust your passions and skills" consignment to certain acceptable callings? There is and it's to dive more fully into biblical principles of work. Here's a few important points we need to consider when it comes to calling:
Every kind of work is honorable to God. This is where Tom Nelson's book, Work Matters really shines. It shines because it pushes back against pastors and missionaries and so-called full-time ministry staff elevating their callings above that of lay people. The truth is that if we believe work in it’s self is good and worthy and honorable to God as a form of worship, then we should consider the skilled plumber or the top salesman or the doctor as worthy a ministry of the gospel as a pastor or missionary. The work lay people do from Monday to Friday is important, not simply so they can be a witness in the workplace or they can make more money so they can tithe, but because the work itself is important to God.
This concept is backed up by Paul in Colossians 3:23 where he writes “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” And again in Ephesians 6:7 where he tells the church at Ephesus to “Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people”.
God has uniquely wired every single person with specific skills and gifts. Max Lucado beautifully brings out the important message of Psalm 139, where David describes the intricate design behind every human soul. You are who you are because God made you this way. The things you are gifted at, passionate about, the things others see in you as strengths -- these are given to purposely by God. Why? For a purpose. To occupy a space in His plan for His glory. You wanting to be live someone else's life is actually against God. Someone forcing you into their mold is against God. The life God wants you to live is the life of Christ lived through you in a unique expression.
A True Believer Can Trust Their Hearts. Let's look at the teachings of the Scriptures concerning our hearts. Ephesians 2:10 says “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.”
But something happened, right? We chose sin and sin has corrupted our hearts, thus Jeremiah 17:9 which describes the human heart as “the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.” But in Ezekiel 36:26 God says, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”
And one of the most important scriptures that most of us have heard many times: “that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
So, if we are followers of Christ being transformed by His grace, we can listen to our hearts. What happens in salvation is this: God restores us (His masterpieces) from the corruption of sin. He implants in us a new heart, makes us a new person (born again). And as we die to ourselves, He reveals to us His original purpose for us. As you walk with the Lord, your calling will become clearer and clearer. But it's not because you are ignoring your gifts, your passions, your skills, but rather you are seeing them more clearly because the Holy Spirit is guiding us.
So, this means you can't be anything you "want to be" but you are free to be who you are supposed to be. What you die to in following Christ is not your skills and passions and gifts, but to the sin-soaked desires that were a distraction from God's original design of your life. You begin to enter, as Max Lucado calls it, your "sweet spot" where your gifts, your opportunities, and your impact all meet.
It is especially important for Christian young people as they survey their lives. High-school seniors and college freshman. They need to ask: What am I good at? What do I enjoy doing? Where do you think you can have the most impact in the world? What do others say you are good at?
They as well as all of us need to realize is that "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father" (James 1:17). God equipped us with gifts of skill, not for us to show off our skills but to reflect His glory.
Gifted plumbers shouldn't preach. Gifted preachers shouldn't plumb.
No, you can't be what you want to be. But you are freed by Jesus to be what He designed you to be. And it's a whole easier to figure out what that is when we reject both cultural and church myths.
While both books are different -- Nelson fully fleshes out the “theology” of work while Lucado illustrates the uniqueness of every human being created in God's image -- they both arrive at an important conclusion: God has uniquely gifted, wired, called, and shaped every human being for a specific purpose on this earth, to glorify Him.
This may seem like something we always hear in church or a tired Christian cliché. But we often do not always comprehend two powerful ideas that come out of our uniqueness: work was ordained by God and is a form of worship and that God implants in us certain unique skills, passions, and gifts that make our lives unique.
We will expand on this concept today because it is very important for us to understand our purpose. Embracing God's unique design involves pushing back against a cultural lie about ourselves and a church lie about ourselves.
The Cultural Lie
On the one hand, you have the cultural expression that "you can be whatever you want to be, whatever you set your heart to do." This has been echoed in movies, books, motivational speeches and sometimes even from the pulpit. But we all know that this isn't really true. Supposed we really wanted to play on the pro golf circuit. Maybe play as well as Tiger Woods. We could play 18 holes everyday for years but would never make it. So we can't actually be whatever we want to be, can we?
The Church Lie
But the opposite of this cultural lie is a church lie. It's a pushback against the dreams that tell us to follow our hearts. It's the equal and opposite idea that because our hearts are so wicked, we can't trust them and therefore what we like to do, what we're good at doing, what we have a passion to do -- this can't possibly be what God wants us to be. This lie might go something like this: You can't be anything you want to be. In some ways, this may be more dangerous than the first lie in the sense that lots of Christian kids grow up forced into a mold set by parents or pastors or others. Every young boy must aspire to be a pastor or in "full-time" Christian service, otherwise he's not serving God. Every girl must aspire to be a pastor's wife or in some kind of acceptable full-time ministry or she is not serving the Lord. The guilt goes like this: How can you pursue a career in law or business or entertainment when across the world people are dying and going to hell?
And so you have a lot of people who feel they are supposed to ignore their gifts, their skills, their passions and they plunge into full-time ministry when they really have no aptitude for it. And as a result, not only do they suffer, but God's people suffer. You've taken a skilled person out of the environment where they might have had the most impact (law, business, medical field, carpenter, plumber, etc) and you've placed them, like a square peg in a round hole, in ministry where the people are suffering under the leadership of someone who wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.
The Biblical Third Way
So is there an alternative to the world's false "You can be what you want to be" fantasies and the church's "Don't dream, don't trust your passions and skills" consignment to certain acceptable callings? There is and it's to dive more fully into biblical principles of work. Here's a few important points we need to consider when it comes to calling:
Every kind of work is honorable to God. This is where Tom Nelson's book, Work Matters really shines. It shines because it pushes back against pastors and missionaries and so-called full-time ministry staff elevating their callings above that of lay people. The truth is that if we believe work in it’s self is good and worthy and honorable to God as a form of worship, then we should consider the skilled plumber or the top salesman or the doctor as worthy a ministry of the gospel as a pastor or missionary. The work lay people do from Monday to Friday is important, not simply so they can be a witness in the workplace or they can make more money so they can tithe, but because the work itself is important to God.
This concept is backed up by Paul in Colossians 3:23 where he writes “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” And again in Ephesians 6:7 where he tells the church at Ephesus to “Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people”.
God has uniquely wired every single person with specific skills and gifts. Max Lucado beautifully brings out the important message of Psalm 139, where David describes the intricate design behind every human soul. You are who you are because God made you this way. The things you are gifted at, passionate about, the things others see in you as strengths -- these are given to purposely by God. Why? For a purpose. To occupy a space in His plan for His glory. You wanting to be live someone else's life is actually against God. Someone forcing you into their mold is against God. The life God wants you to live is the life of Christ lived through you in a unique expression.
A True Believer Can Trust Their Hearts. Let's look at the teachings of the Scriptures concerning our hearts. Ephesians 2:10 says “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.”
But something happened, right? We chose sin and sin has corrupted our hearts, thus Jeremiah 17:9 which describes the human heart as “the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.” But in Ezekiel 36:26 God says, “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”
And one of the most important scriptures that most of us have heard many times: “that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
So, if we are followers of Christ being transformed by His grace, we can listen to our hearts. What happens in salvation is this: God restores us (His masterpieces) from the corruption of sin. He implants in us a new heart, makes us a new person (born again). And as we die to ourselves, He reveals to us His original purpose for us. As you walk with the Lord, your calling will become clearer and clearer. But it's not because you are ignoring your gifts, your passions, your skills, but rather you are seeing them more clearly because the Holy Spirit is guiding us.
So, this means you can't be anything you "want to be" but you are free to be who you are supposed to be. What you die to in following Christ is not your skills and passions and gifts, but to the sin-soaked desires that were a distraction from God's original design of your life. You begin to enter, as Max Lucado calls it, your "sweet spot" where your gifts, your opportunities, and your impact all meet.
It is especially important for Christian young people as they survey their lives. High-school seniors and college freshman. They need to ask: What am I good at? What do I enjoy doing? Where do you think you can have the most impact in the world? What do others say you are good at?
They as well as all of us need to realize is that "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father" (James 1:17). God equipped us with gifts of skill, not for us to show off our skills but to reflect His glory.
Gifted plumbers shouldn't preach. Gifted preachers shouldn't plumb.
No, you can't be what you want to be. But you are freed by Jesus to be what He designed you to be. And it's a whole easier to figure out what that is when we reject both cultural and church myths.
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