Perseverance

Galatians 6:8-10, "For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. (NKJV)

Over the past few days I have been reminded of the need to persevere in my relationship with Christ regardless of the circumstances or challenges that I may face. Each of us will face those moments in which the enemy seeks to hinder our faith walk with Christ. The enemy will even go as far as attempting (sometimes successfully) to give us reasons why we should abandon our trust in God. What is the purpose of this method of attack? The enemy desires for us to "lose heart" (faint). The enemy wants us to give up but the Spirit will encourage us to hold on and move forward in our walk with Christ. Each of us have the option to choose which action we will take. I do not want to lose heart or give up. The "weariness" of life will wear on our faith but the Spirit will strengthen the inner man so that we can become a victor rather than a victim. 

2 Timothy 1:11-13, "And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. 13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Resurrection Lessons

Hebrews 7:24-26; “but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.   ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.  ²⁶ Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.” (NIV)  

 

I sincerely believe that God is teaching me to look for the lessons that I need to learn as I move beyond the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. I am certainly not wanting to down play the importance of the death of Christ nor downplay the importance of the Resurrection. But we also must remember that these events were not just events on the "spiritual calendar" of the church but the Crucifixion and the Resurrection were meant to have a long term and lasting impact upon the family of God. I know that I believe my previous statement to be true but I also know that I need to be reminded that the Spirit and the Word of God will continue to make an impact on my walk with Christ.

 

The scripture that I shared today is one of those reminders that the Spirit has revived and rejuvenated in my soul. This Word from God reminds us that "Jesus lives forever..., "he is able to save completely those who come to God...because he always lives to intercede for them." Did I just hear someone shout Hallelujah and Praise God? We can trust in the knowledge that the priesthood of Jesus continues to this very day and that He is still interested in the salvation of mankind. This fact encourages me to continue praying for my family, my friends, my church family, our city, our state, our nation and the people of our world. I am able to join with Christ in this joint endeavor for the soul of mankind. Will you join with me in praying for those who are in need of a relationship with God as well as for those who need to draw closer to God in their existing relationship with God? There are people who are depending on your prayers!

 

Will you (I) be faithful in answering the call to pray?

Moving Forward

My wife could verify this fact about me if you were able to have a personal conversation with her. I am always planning ahead even as I am enjoying the present moments of life. I understand that you can debate the benefits of that type of philosophy and you can debate the non-benefits of that type of philosophy. I personally believe that there is some benefit to having a plan concerning your next steps in life even if these steps have to be adjusted as you take those steps. I said all of that to say this; I believe that the "church" needs to understand that there was a plan and purpose for them to fulfill after they celebrated the Resurrection of their Savior. I believe the same truth can be spoken to us in 2014. God has a plan for the "church" to fulfill in this era of time and we must be preparing our hearts in accordance with that plan and purpose.

The message of the Kingdom of God was to be declared and spread throughout the regions of the known world. The initial reaction of the people of God was fear, concern, doubt and how would they move forward after the death of Christ. But the Resurrection of Christ and the filling of the Spirit would provide the impetus, guidance, and power that they needed to take the message of Christ to their world. The impetus, guidance and power of the Holy Spirit is still available to the people of God today. Will we accept His visitation and baptism in our lives? Will we surrender our lives to His will and purpose? Will we realize that God has called us to a purpose that is greater than our ability to accomplish, complete and fulfill? I sincerely desire to make the correct response to Christ and I sincerely desire to take the correct steps in obedience. The celebration of the Resurrection should and will propel us forward into the declaration of the message of the Kingdom of God. 

Will you thank God for the privilege of serving Him today? Christ is alive in you and ready to use you to make a difference in this world!!!

Celebration???

Today's post will be somewhat unique and straight forward in some ways. Three separate events/situations have awakened the following questions and thoughts. The events were 1) The message preparation time over the past few weeks; 2) The preaching of the "Easter" message; and 3) My prayer time this morning. Yesterday's message at New River contained several references to the "celebration of the Resurrection." Prayer and preparation time kept bringing me to this question; "Do we truly celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus as a victory or has it just become another of the storied traditional doctrines/principles of the church?" Has the Resurrection of Jesus lost the "umph" and "awe" factor among the family of God? Has it only become a time for dramas, special songs, special message, etc.? Let me make it VERY CLEAR that I am in no way saying that we should not use any of these efforts to share the message of the Gospel. We used each of these ministry tools in our service on Sunday and as a matter of fact they were a tremendous blessing to the service. (Note: the use of the term "special message" may be debatable.) Every possible means that we can use to share the Gospel with our fellow human beings should be used to the fullest measure. Fallen and sinful humanity is the reason that Jesus came to Earth in the first place. And I personally believe that message has not lost any power and that it will still change and transform the lives of anyone who hears, believes and responds to it though faith and obedience!!

This post is not concerned with methods or methodology to say the least. This post is about the need for celebration. In this case I am not using the words celebration as an interchange for emotions. Each of us have differing emotions but each of us contain a certain amount of "know how" when it comes to celebration. Our times of celebration may be low key and on the quiet side but it is certainly apparent and somewhat visible. I truly believe that the Spirit is leading me to remind the "church" that we need to reengage our hearts in the spirit of celebration as we gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ to offer our worship to God. I also believe that each of us individually need to reestablish a heart of celebration in our devotional time with our Heavenly Father. The death and Resurrection of Jesus provided for us the road of victory over every tactic and strategy of hell. We have learned to celebrate the temporary victories of this earthly life yet we (I) am forgetting to celebrate the eternal victories of a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is time to take the harps down from the willow tree and realize that Jesus has won the battle for us and He is calling us to walk in the victory that He has provided. I urge you to dust off your "celebration shoes." I urge you to take out of the closet your "church clothes" and arrive at church with a song in your heart, a word of praise on your lips, and a urgency in your spirit to declare the greatness of God. I understand that these are the days of trial and difficulty but I also understand that Jesus paid the price on Calvary for the sins of mankind and today we are afforded the opportunity to celebrate Him. 

Good Friday

I trust and pray that this week has been a week of reflection for you. I know that the past few weeks have found me pondering about the awesome sacrifice that Jesus paid for my sins to be forgiven. I will admit that after all of these years preaching the Gospel that I still have difficulty "wrapping" my arms around the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. My belief in those events actually taking place is not the problem. I believe because I have seen the application of those events make a difference in my life as well as in the lives of others. But I am amazed that He would die for me and make a way for my sins to be forgotten and forgiven. I am listening to a song about the blood of Jesus as I am typing these words and I realize once more that the love of God is a tangible presence and principle that I can sense and that I can rely on.

 

I have been preaching about the need to make correct decisions over the past few weeks at New River. I never want to lose the desire to make the choice to follow Jesus on a daily basis. I owe Him a debt that I can never pay. He paid the debt for my sins and all that He asks in return is that I will follow Him in a committed lifestyle of discipleship. It seems that my love for God should be able to provide the strength that I need to fulfill that commitment. I encourage you to join with me today in re-committing your life to Christ. These are the days in which we need to make the correct decision concerning our eternal destiny.

 

Billy Graham shared these thoughts about the choices of life that we make, "The strongest principle of life and blessings lies in our choice. Our life is the sum result of all the choices we make, both consciously and unconsciously. If we can control the process of choosing, we can take control of all aspects of our life. We can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of our life. So start with what is right rather than what is acceptable. If you don’t make a decision, then time will make it for you, and time will always side against you."

 

What will be your decision regarding Christ?

 

 



Life

I will share a devotional on occasions that I have read as a part of my contribution to this blog. The days that are leading up to Holy Week (the last week of Christ's life on Earth) have been ones of introspection for me. Prayer time has afforded me the opportunity to reconnect with God and the relationship that Him and I began developing many years ago. A friend of mine called me a few days ago and felt led to share these words with me; "Go back to where you began and begin." The next morning following my prayer time I felt led to write this reminder; "I must stay connected with the heart of God regardless of the cost!!" The encouraging words from my brother in Christ has brought to light several different areas of understanding to say the least (both personally as well as ministerially). But one of those areas of understanding concerns my personal need to remember that Christ made a difference in my life when we began this journey together and He desires to continue to make a difference as we continue that journey. I can only see that accomplished in my life is I stay connected with His heart on a daily basis. His heart and actions revealed a desire to bring "glory" to His Father. Does my life reveal that same type of desire to bring "glory to the Father?"

 

The devotional that I will share today challenges us to ask this question of ourselves; "How would you like God to be glorified in your life?" I will ask it another way; "Do you (I) desire for people to see Christ at work in your (my) life for His glory rather than your (my) glory?"

 

John 12:27-33:“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die."

In that last week of Jesus’ life on earth he taught one day about an event of the cosmos about to happen. The day of his death would not just be a martyrdom, but “the time for judgment.” By a great divine act the Evil One himself would be driven out, and by being “lifted up from the earth,” Jesus would draw people to himself.

Jesus said that sometimes death results in new life. Like a seed buried in the soil, soon to erupt into life, so would his demise be the brief prelude before life would burst out upon the human scene. It would be like that dark moment in a theater when all the lights go dim, all voices hushed, before the curtain comes up, the lights bathe the stage and we see what the playwright really has in mind.

This would not be easy-Jesus knew that. Showing his real humanity, Jesus told his disciples that his heart was troubled, but he also told the Father: “glorify your name!”

That’s all that was needed. Soon, the disciples would be having their last supper with Jesus, and in the meantime, a little while to think about seeds in the ground.

 

 

 



Focused

Hebrews 11:24-26, "It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. ²⁵ He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶ He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward." (NLT)

Millions of people watched the NCAA Basketball Championship game last night  and a large portion of that number were located in the state of Kentucky. People were cheering for their favorite team to win the game so that they could be declared the "Champions." But the only participants in that sporting event who could actually win the game were the players on the basketball court. Many of those players have been involved in the game of basketball since they were a child. Would you like to have a dollar for every time that they have shot the ball, dribbled the ball, passed the ball or ran up and down the court? 

But there is another element to the game that they had to learn. They had to develop the element of "focus." They had to learn that the missed shots, missed free throws, the rebounds that they should have grabbed and the games that they could have won had to be put out of their minds and "focus" on the game at hand. Christians have to remind ourselves of the need to focus on those things that God has planned for our lives. We can easily remember our failures, our "what could have been", our "what should have been." We all have endured those moments of "why me" and those moments of "how can I get through this moment?" 

We can learn a valuable lesson from the decision making process of Moses. The Word of God shares that lesson in v. 26, "He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward." How long has it been since we thought of the reward of serving Christ? How long has it been since we have thought about the blessings that are provided for us as we serve Christ? How long has it been since we looked at our future and not our past? Moses took the better route and I believe that is time for each to remember that serving Christ is the better route!!!

God's Care

I realize that I wrote about God's care and concern in a recent post. But the past few days have brought that characteristic of God to the forefront of my thinking once again. I am sure that many of you are aware of people that are facing some very challenging situations at this time in their life. I am made aware of many situations of people both near and far in my role as Pastor. I hear from friends all across this nation and I even hear from people outside this nation who desire to share a prayer concern with me. There are days that my prayer list could be categorized as overwhelming to say the least.

 

It is at those moments that I realize that I do not have the power or ability to change or alter any of the situations that have been brought to my attention (some family needs could be excluded). But I am connected to them through the relationship that I have developed with the individuals who have shared the need with me. I willingly commit to prayer, care (if possible) and concern for the need that was shared. But as a human being I am limited to what I can do to relieve the pain, sorrow, difficulty, challenge, etc. I truly emphasize the word "limited" in each of those situations. Many of you who are reading these words have also felt that type of helplessness. It is during those moments that we realize that our care and concern is limited because of our humanity but our faith and hope is not limited.

 

We know where to turn at those moments. We turn to God who is truly unlimited and all powerful. He not only possesses those characteristics but He also possesses the genuine characteristics of love, care and concern for His children. Today I need to remind someone of the promise found in 1 Peter 5:7. I feel led to share that familiar passage with you once more today. Take a moment and allow these words to sink deep into your heart as you look at your own prayer list (both for yourself, your family as well as others). God cares and we can celebrate His care today!!

I Peter 5:7, “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (NKJV)

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (NIV)

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” (NLT)



Taking Action

I John 3:17-19, "If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. ¹⁹ Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. (NLT)

 

Today's thoughts are somewhat a follow up to some of the challenge that I shared yesterday on this blog. Once again I sensed the Spirit challenging my heart as I prayed this morning. This morning the Spirit issued to me a challenge to "take action" against the attacks and strategies of the enemy. We are a generation that is long on words, ideas, opinions, think-tanks, commissioning studies, meetings and making decisions regarding the actions that other people should take. But is it possible that we are falling short when we are asked to take actions that can and will make a difference in this world?

Many people know what they should do but they fail to act on that knowledge. I have known people who would tell you, "Preacher, I know what is wrong in my life but I am not prepared to make the right choice or decision." We are a generation that has developed our own set of excuses and we use them when we look for a reason to shirk our duties and responsibilities.

 

The Apostle John shares a stern warning with us in today's scripture passage. It appears that the people of his day and time also had their own set of excuses when it came time to take the appropriate actions. In my opinion John makes this simple point; there are times that talking is not enough. Our culture might say it this way, "It is time to put up or shut up." Our Christian lifestyle can be full of religious rhetoric and very little action. We say we can't pray yet we can talk at length about various issues in our world. We say we don't have time to attend church yet we make time to do everything else that satisfies us. We say we don't have time to read the Bible but we will DVR our favorite television program so we can view it later when it is more convenient. Or we will DVR one program while we are watching another program. We say we don't have the time or resources to bring our child to children's or youth ministry training yet we will travel all around the state to make sure they are participating in their favorite sporting event. None of these previous actions that I have mentioned are sinful UNLESS they have become our "god" (little g). Don't you think it is time that each of us realize that satan is looking for people who will choose to make the wrong decision and God (big g) is ready to work in the lives of people who will make the correct decision?

 

Once more read with me the Apostle John's closing words in this portion of his letter. They are found in verse 19, "Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God." I do not want to be embarrassed when I stand before God. I know that no one of us is perfect but we can sincerely desire to place our lives in God's hands and ask Him to lead us into the path of correct decisions.