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Need2Know
 Posted:
Fri Sep 05, 2008 6:55 am |
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Friday, September 5, 2008
Lord of All
"So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."
— Luke 14:33
It was George Bernard Shaw who said, "There are two sources of unhappiness in life. One is not getting what you want. The other is getting it."
This statement reminds me of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus seeking answers. Here was a man who, of all men, should have been content and fulfilled. He had great influence and affluence.
Yet in spite of all his accomplishments, there was something missing in his life. He asked, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?"
Jesus told him, "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." Jesus was not implying that by keeping the Ten Commandments one would be saved. Rather, Jesus held the Ten Commandments up as a mirror to this man to show him his sin.
The ruler replied, "All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?"
I think Jesus probably smiled at this. He saw what this man was really all about. So He took it up a notch and said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
Jesus knew the problem with this young ruler was that possessions had possessed his soul. But Jesus just as easily could have said something completely different to someone else. What is really holding someone back from Christ and further spiritual progress can vary from person to person.
We would do well to come before Jesus and ask, "Lord, is there anything in my life that is getting in the way of my relationship with You?"
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
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| Need2Know
Posted:
Fri Sep 05, 2008 6:56 am |
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I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
--John 10:10
Jesus loves you! That’s one of the first phrases children learn in Sunday school. But the full impact of it can be hard to grasp. He came to give you life!
As our Lord Jesus Christ says in the verse for today, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
It’s been said that Jesus will not only add years to your life, but life to your years. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s plus-sign to the world to say, “I love you and I’ve come to give you this abundant, overwhelmingly good life.”
Some people think if they give their life to Jesus Christ, He’s going to take away all those things that they enjoy.
But remember, the only thing God asks you to give up are those things that harm and hurt you. Psalm 84:11 promises us, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
You know, we don’t deserve and we didn’t earn the favor and the love of the Father. But by His mercy and grace, and because of His great love, He sent us His Son to die in our place on the cross.
And through Christ, we have everything we need as believers! So why should we ever be disappointed? Why should we be discouraged? Why should we be distressed? Who minds the journey if the journey leads home?
The old hymn says, “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.” And how sweet it is to be loved unconditionally and to be provided for now and for eternity!
GIVE THANKS TODAY FOR THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
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Posted:
Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:59 pm |
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Theodore Roosevelt said, "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out where the strong stumbled or how the doer could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is in the arena, his face marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and falls short again and again: There is no effort without error."
It is easy to stand on the sidelines and be critical of the church. It is easy to say, "They are not doing this right" or "They are not doing that right." But it is another thing when you are in the game, playing. It is another thing when you in the arena, fighting. It is even easy in the church to take shots at one another. You might be criticizing another for attempts to reach our culture with the life-changing message of the gospel. My question to you is: What are you doing besides tearing others down?
A woman once approached the great evangelist D. L. Moody to air a grievance. Moody conducted evangelistic crusades similar to Billy Graham's (and to what we do today through our Harvest Crusades).
The woman said to him, "Mr. Moody, I don't like the way you do evangelism!"
"Well, ma'am, let me ask you, how do you do it?" Moody asked.
She replied, "I don't!"
Moody responded, "Well, I like my way of doing it better then your way of not doing it!"
Well said. Don't be so quick to attack others. Rather, ask yourself what you are doing to reach others with the message of Jesus Christ.
Then there are those outside the church who will attack, too. I am the first to admit that we in the church have our shortcomings, but at least we are in the arena, attempting to do the work of God.
Yet we are living in a time when people are re-envisioning what the church is who say that we need to reinvent the church. While I agree that we need to be relevant to the culture we are living in, I disagree with the assertion that we need to reinvent the church.
Of course we need to adapt to the times in which we are living. Language changes. Musical styles change. Design changes. If I were living in another country, for example, I would not expect those around me to understand English or even my own version of English. If I wanted to communicate effectively, I would learn the language. I would learn the culture. In the same way, we as the church want to make sense to the people we are speaking to.
Having said that, there are certain things about the church that must never change – fixed principles that must remain exactly where they are. We see these principles operating in the early church. It was a large church, and today we might call it a megachurch – a word I don't particularly like, but that is what it was.
Usually we think of "successful" as synonymous with "big," especially here in the United States. Like the automakers of the 1950s who designed their cars a little larger every year, we tend to think that if something is bigger, then it is obviously better. And we carry that same thinking over to our ideas about the church. The bigger the church, we assume, the more successful it is. But that is not necessarily true. You can have a big church, yet not have a strong one. There are a lot of things you can do to draw a crowd. But it is not about just being big; it is about being strong. And it is about being biblical.
At the same time, there are others who are critical of large churches. They complain about everything from having to wait for a parking space to the fact that it is hard to get to know everyone. But let's think about this for a moment. It would be like someone saying, "You know, there are two restaurants I can choose from. One restaurant has a line around the block. The other restaurant has no one inside at all, except the people who are working there. Where do you think we should eat?" Sometimes a large church with a lot of people wanting to get inside can mean there is something they are getting out of it.
My objective as a pastor has never been to have a large church; it always has been to have a biblical church and a strong church. I have always felt that we should leave the growth of the church up to God.
Not every church will be a large church, but every church should be a growing church. The objective of the church is to be as faithful as we possibly can to what God has called us to be.
And what has God called the church to be? I believe the church exists for three reasons: to exalt God, to edify – or build up – believers, and to evangelize the world. The latter is a natural outgrowth of the first two. If the church is glorifying God and building up one another, then naturally it will want to share the hope of salvation with others through loving actions and words. This is what the church is called to do. And it is essential that we keep these principles in their proper balance, not emphasizing one at the expense of the other.
Granted, every one of us has moments of hypocrisy. So when it comes to the church, don't use the "there-are-too-many-hypocrites" excuse. There were hypocrites in the first-century church as well. In fact, one of Jesus' handpicked disciples turned out to be a hypocrite (Judas Iscariot). So yes, hypocrisy is nothing new. And that is not to even mention the fact that in the early church, there were rivalries, heresies and even some flat-out immorality. There has always been hypocrisy.
Yet Jesus was committed to the church, and we should be too. There is nothing this world offers that is like the church. The church may have many critics, but it has no rivals. There is nothing like it. Anywhere.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
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| Need2Know
Posted:
Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:51 am |
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New Chapters
"No matter how difficult your trials, God will be walking with you through it."
Dear Friend,
When I completed Lost Boy, the book and the documentary, I was able to look back on my life with 20/20 hindsight and get a sense of the big picture. I could see that, despite my difficult childhood, God had used it to help me do what I do today.
In fact, the film ended with my family walking down the street smiling. My wife Cathe, my son Jonathan, my daughter-in-law Brittany, my granddaughter Stella, and, of course, Christopher. It was almost as if to say, "They all lived happily ever after."
Then Christopher unexpectedly died and everything changed. It was as though the back cover of my book had been ripped off and new chapters were to be added.
The ink is still wet on these new chapters in my life, and I am not sure how how this story will unfold.
But I know this, God is good and He is still in control!
As I look back on my life, I can see how good the Lord has been to me and my family. And my prayer is that He will be glorified through all that has happened.
I would like to say this has all gotten easier, but it has not. In some ways, it is even harder. The hard reality of not seeing my son again on this earth is sinking in.
Yes, I know I will see him again in heaven, but I just so wish he could be with us now. Fortunately, that day of reunion will come for me and all of us who have loved ones who have gone to heaven before us.
When I spoke at the Southern California Harvest just a few weeks ago, I wove in the story of my son and how this has affected us. But I also told people that no matter how difficult your trials, God will be walking with you through it.
Take the worst-case scenario in life—finding out you are going to die, or having someone close to you die, or having your child die before you. Now know this—Jesus will be there for you, tears in His eyes, walking with you.
You know certain things are true, but you wonder if you can still stand in this hour. You can and you will, if you have Christ!
One man whose son had died wrote this about his faith: "Faith is a footbridge that you don't know will hold you over the chasm until you're forced to walk out unto it."
I am on that footbridge right now, and I can tell you, it's sound.
Yes, new chapters are being written in my story, and in yours too. May God help us all seek to glorify Him as He writes them.
God bless you,
Greg Laurie
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
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Posted:
Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:52 am |
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Forgiven People
On December 1, 1997, about a dozen students were gathered together for their daily prayer meeting at Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky. As they said their final "Amen," a 14-year-old boy suddenly walked up and opened fire on the group. Three of the students died, while five others were seriously wounded. The irony of the situation was that a number of these students had actually befriended this young man.
In the midst of this tragedy, an amazing story of forgiveness emerged. As she lay in the hospital, one of the injured girls—15-year-old Melissa Jenkins—was informed that she most likely would be a paraplegic for the rest of her life. Melissa wanted to convey a message to the teenage boy who shot her.
What do you think her message was? Did she say she hated him or that he would get his in the end? No. This is not what she had to say. This Christian teenage girl said she forgave him.
Only a Christian can do something like that. It is not a natural thing to do. Rather, it's supernatural. That is one of the amazing things about true followers of Jesus: they have the capacity to forgive people.
Understand that if you are a Christian, then you—like Melissa Jenkins—need to learn how to forgive as well. In fact, to not forgive someone is an outright sin. If you don't forgive a person who has sinned against you, then you are sinning against God. To say that you are a Christian, but that you refuse to forgive, is a contradiction in terms.
If you are an unforgiving Christian, then one must question how much you know about Christianity. Jesus constantly pressed this issue. His sermons, His parables, His private talks, even His prayers, were often filled with lessons about forgiveness. You would be blind to miss this point.
There are a number of reasons I could give as to why we should forgive, but let's consider two very significant ones.
One, you are never more like God than when you forgive. It has been said, "To err is human, but to forgive is divine." If you want to be like Jesus Christ, then you need to be a forgiving person.
Jesus modeled this beautifully as He hung on the cross. Remember what His first statement was? " 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do' " (Luke 23:34 NKJV). There was Jesus, forgiving from the cross. His statement was so powerful in its effect that one of the thieves came to his senses right on the spot and believed.
Two, it is only reasonable that forgiven people should be forgiving people. One day, Simon Peter thought that He would impress Jesus with his willingness to forgive others. He came up to the Lord and said, " 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?' " (Matthew 18:21 NKJV). He probably was expecting the Lord to say something like, "Are you serious, Peter? You are willing to go seven times? Let's have a round of applause for Simon Peter. Way to go, Peter."
No doubt Peter was surprised when Jesus said, " 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven' " (verse 22). I don't think Jesus was saying that if you have forgiven someone 490 times, then it is open season for offense number 491 and above.
Rather, the message was clear: unlimited forgiveness. Forgiveness is to be extended over and over again. That is what Jesus was saying.
Here is what it comes down to. God has forgiven us of such an incredible debt. All of us have sinned. All of us have broken God's commandments. But God has pardoned us of all of our sins, and therefore we should be willing to extend that same forgiveness to others.
As I have often said, He came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. Therefore, a forgiven person should be a forgiving person.
If you are not a forgiving person, then one has to question whether you really know all that much about forgiveness.
As C. H. Spurgeon advised, "If you want to learn about your need for forgiveness, go to the cross. If you want to learn about forgiving others, hang out there for a while." That is what we need to do.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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| Need2Know
Posted:
Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:42 am |
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I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
--Romans 12:1
You may not realize it, but we all worship something.
Why? Because God made us that way. He designed us to worship, but not to worship just anything. He hardwired us to worship Him!
Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 that God “has put eternity into man’s heart.” We’re made for beyond the here and now. We’re made to experience and enjoy the living presence of our God today and every day.
And how do you experience the presence of God in your life today? Paul tells us in today’s verse to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Worship is so much more than the songs you sing in churchs, although praising God in song is vitally important.
Remember those two men who walked with the risen Christ along the road to Emmaus? They didn’t recognize Him at first. But after they had experienced His presence and realized that they had been with the living Lord, they said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road?”
You see, that is worship! Worship is giving yourself to God each step of the way, every day. It’s surrendering yourself to the Lord in every area of your life.
Can you truly say that you’re surrendered to the Lord in every area of your life? In your thought life? In your work life? In your family life?
It’s my prayer that you will learn what it means to become a dynamic worshiper of the Lord Jesus Christ by giving yourself as a living sacrifice. When you do, you will experience His power and His presence in your life each day.
CAN YOU TRULY SAY THAT YOU’RE SURRENDERED
TO THE LORD IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR LIFE?
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Tue Sep 09, 2008 7:11 am |
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All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
--2 Timothy 3:16
In Ephesians 6:10-12, the apostle Paul reminds us that you and I are in a daily battle against evil.
He says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Putting on the “armor of God” includes taking up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Becoming a fully committed follower of the Lord Jesus Christ begins by picking up your sword each day!
As we see in today’s verse, the Bible is not a human book. It’s a God-given book! And it is sufficient for your every need.
That’s why I want to encourage you to have a daily time of devotion and discipline where you open God’s Word and ask God to speak to you through the Scriptures.
I want to also encourage you to take your Bible with you when you gather with other believers in worship. And take a pen with you so you can underline or highlight some Scriptures, take a few notes, and really engage.
Taking up the sword of the Spirit each day is the only way you’ll be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, able to withstand the attacks of our enemy, the devil.
It’s the only way you’ll be able to stand strong in the spiritual battle you face every day!
HAVE YOU SPENT TIME IN GOD’S WORD TODAY? IF NOT, TAKE SOME TIME, ASKING HIM TO SPEAK TO YOU THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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| Need2Know
Posted:
Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:56 am |
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The Reason for Rejection
Inside, the leading priests and the entire high council were trying to find witnesses who would lie about Jesus, so they could put him to death.
— Matthew 26:59
We might wonder how the religious leaders of Jesus' day could be so heartless as to take Him and put Him to such a quick death. Where was their compassion? Where was their sense of fairness?
Even if they didn't accept Him as the Messiah, what was behind this hatred toward Him? Why did they desire such a quick execution?
We could take the same question and apply it to the broader issue of why people reject Jesus Christ without ever taking time to consider His claims.
Why do people reject the revelation of Scripture, when in most cases, they have never taken the time to read it for themselves? Why is that people refuse to give at least a fair hearing to the message of the gospel?
Jesus said, "Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil" (John 3:19).
Someone may say, "The reason I am not a Christian is because I disagree with this or I have problems with that." According to Jesus, the real reason is that their deeds are evil. They don't want to come into the light, where their deeds will be exposed. Everything else is nothing more than an excuse those people hide behind.
I am not saying that people do not have legitimate questions to ask. I am not saying people do not grapple with some of these truths.
What I am saying is that when people are true seekers of God and they are presented with the answers to their questions, they will believe.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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| Need2Know
Posted:
Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:09 am |
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Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
--Isaiah 43:19
It’s easy to get in a rut at times.
In fact, maybe today, you find yourself in a rut in your own life. Maybe you’re in a place where you’re thinking, “Well, this is as good as it gets.” And perhaps you’ve settled for mediocrity. Mediocrity in your marriage, mediocrity with your children, mediocrity in your career.
But God has so much more for you! He wants to do supernatural things in you, things you could never imagine.
Think about what God tells us in our Scripture for today: “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
In other words, God is saying, “Look! Can’t you see it? Can’t you taste it? Can’t you feel this new thing that I’m doing?”
God takes barren places and barren people and uses them for His glory when He does the brand new thing in their lives. And God wants to do something new in you.
Do you believe that God can do greater things in your own life, right now, than you ever imagined possible? I believe God can and will do what you believe He can do.
Now, you say, “That’s impossible!” Let me remind you what the Scripture says in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
If you’re a child of God, He is for you. So don’t doubt that He wants to do great things in your life!
GOD WANTS TO DO SOMETHING NEW IN YOU. ARE YOU WILLING?
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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| Need2Know
Posted:
Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:22 pm |
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What does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
--Deuteronomy 10:12
Are you making a living, or are you making a life? God has called you not to just take up space in this world, but to make our world a better place in which to live.
Yes, God wants you to make a difference.
And the people God uses to make a difference in this world are people who are vulnerable to Him, who are dependent on Him, and who are available to Him. If you seek a courageous faith and ask God to give you a compassionate heart, then anything is possible.
I believe it’s time to make an impact on this generation and the coming generations for Christ. It’s time for us to fulfill our calling before He comes again. It’s time for God’s Church to rise up and shake off the past and shake the world for Christ.
It’s time for God to do a brand new thing in the hearts of His people. And that means you!
Someone put it this way: “A zealous man in religion is preeminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say he is earnest, hardy, uncompromising, thoroughgoing, wholehearted, firm in spirit. He only sees one thing. He cares for one thing. He lives for one thing. He is swallowed up in one thing. And that one thing is to please God.”
Let that be the passion and the prayer of our hearts and of our lives! God is looking for men and women who have a heart for Him… men and women who want to take their lives to the next level, who want to live beyond all limits.
That’s my prayer for you and me today. That we will want to move out of the maze of mediocrity in our lives and live for something bigger than ourselves. That we will move out of our comfort zones into the life God has called us to live!
THE PEOPLE GOD USES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE VULNERABLE TO HIM, WHO ARE DEPENDENT ON HIM, AND WHO ARE AVAILABLE TO HIM.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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| Need2Know
Posted:
Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:41 am |
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I rejoice, because I have perfect confidence in you.
--2 Corinthians 7:16
More than likely, you’d like to pray with more confidence.
If so, remember that to pray with confidence, we must pray with concern, we must pray with confession, and we must pray with conviction.
What does it mean to pray with conviction? In Nehemiah 1:5-6, Nehemiah prays, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant….”
In this passage, Nehemiah is praying with conviction because he knows that his God is in control.
When it seemed like everything was out of control in Jerusalem, Nehemiah knew that God was still on His throne. Nehemiah knew that the Lord would answer his prayer because He was a great and awesome God. Because He was a wonderful God. Because He was a faithful God. Because He was a God who could meet all of Nehemiah’s needs.
And in just the same way, God can handle any problem in your life. Do you believe that today?
God is bigger and greater than any situation or crisis in your life. And the first thing Nehemiah did is the first thing that you ought to do when you have a problem, a crisis, or a need: You need to turn it over to God. You need to give it to God, not as your last chance, but as your first choice!
When you know God’s place, you can find your place in the work of Jesus Christ. When you know that God is above all and that He has everything under control… and when you know that your place is surrendered under the lordship of Christ, then you can find your place and know your prayers will be answered!
GOD CAN HANDLE ANY PROBLEM IN YOUR LIFE.
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT TODAY?
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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| Need2Know
Posted:
Mon Sep 15, 2008 7:16 am |
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The Problem with "The New Morality"
In the aftermath of 9/11, I was interviewed by a number of reporters who asked how something so horrible, so unthinkable, could take place in the United States? They couldn't comprehend the capacity of someone who would kill thousands of people and lose their own lives in the process.
I reminded them that not only is there a God, but there is also a devil. I told them that humanity is not basically good, as we often hear, but it is basically bad. I said that the Bible teaches we are sinful to the very core. Many of them seemed shocked to hear this.
In the weeks following that horrific September day, our churches were packed as never before. Services at Harvest Christian Fellowship on the Sunday following 9/11 had the largest attendance in the history of our church. It was also the greatest response on the part of those making decisions for Christ.
It was my hope and prayer that this renewed interest in God would ultimately lead to a nationwide revival. But that has not happened. In fact, something quite the opposite has occurred: a resurgence of moral relativism.
Moral relativism can be defined as a lack of moral absolutes. It is the belief that just because something is true to you doesn't necessarily mean that it is true to me. Moral relativism teaches that we are all products of the evolutionary process. There is no evil, there is no devil, and there is no God.
Moral relativism teaches that we are all basically good, and if we do something bad, it is because we are victims, the result of our upbringing or environment. Moral relativism teaches freedom from all restraint.
But the irony is that if you disagree with these things, then you are insensitive. If you have the audacity to say you believe there is right and wrong and good and evil, then you are classified as insensitive, intolerant, bigoted, and narrow-minded. If you dare to quote the Bible and say it is the source of truth, then you will be accused of pushing your puritanical belief system on others.
Yet biblical Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. When someone says he or she believes in God, but that Jesus isn't necessarily the only way, I can assure you, on the authority of Scripture, that such a person cannot be a Christian and believe this. If you truly are a Christian, then you must believe what the Bible says. You cannot make up the rules as you go.
I cannot get into my car today and say, "I have made up a new rule. I think it is OK for me to drive 120 miles per hour." I cannot walk into a store and say, "I believe it is OK for me to take whatever I want. It is mine for the taking."
Of course, I can choose to believe these things, but I will have a new prison ministry very soon. There are rules. There are absolutes. Whether I believe in them or not, those absolutes are still true.
Therefore, when it comes to the Bible, we cannot pick and choose what we will believe and what we will not. It's a package deal. We take it the way God gave it.
Yet we have removed God's absolutes from our culture. We have done our best to take God out of the classroom, out of the courtroom, and out of everything we can. Then we are amazed to see chaos breaking out as a result.
But this should not surprise us, because the basis of morality is belief. The basis of belief is the Bible, which gives us the absolute truth that we can base our faith on. When we say there is no right and wrong, when we do not have this belief, then the result will be chaos.
We have to get back to what God says. Solomon, after sampling everything this world had to offer, said, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all" (Ecclesiastes 12:13 NKJV).
If anyone could ever say they had been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt, it would be Solomon. He had violated many of God's commandments. Yet after all was said and done, Solomon concluded, "Fear God and keep His commandments."
God has given us His commandments for our own good: to show us how to live our lives.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:26 am |
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Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
--Proverbs 3:5-6
Do you think of yourself as a leader? If you think you could never lead anyone, let me remind you about Nehemiah in the Old Testament.
Nehemiah was one of the great leaders of the Bible. Yet he wasn’t a prophet. He wasn’t a priest. He wasn’t even a preacher!
Nehemiah described himself as a cupbearer to the king. He was just a guy who worked hard and had risen to some prominence in his day and time. Nehemiah was just a man, but he was a man who God raised up!
There were some steps Nehemiah took that insured his success, steps that made him a very effective leader. They’re the same steps you can take as a follower of Christ to ensure you’re an effective leader in your sphere of influence as well.
Step number one is to pray fervently. We see this trait over and over again in the life of Nehemiah. He was a man of prayer. Real leaders understand that opportunity swings on the hinges of prayer.
Step number two is to proceed confidently and courageously. You accomplish this by living what today’s verse says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Step number three to being an effective leader is to plan wisely. Too often we have an idea or dream and we just blindly go for it rather than taking time to plan. But there’s a beautiful balance here. There’s the divine side of praying and then there’s the human side of planning. There is agonizing and then there is organizing.
This is why Nehemiah was such a great leader. Because he not only prayed, he proceeded with confidence and trust in the Lord. And he not only proceeded with confidence and trust in the Lord, he planned effectively.
These same steps, when applied to your life as a Christian, will help you become the effective leader God intends for you to be.
WHAT STEP DO YOU NEED TO TAKE TODAY TO BECOME THE LEADER GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE?
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:12 am |
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It has been rightly said that the history of the world hinges on a stable door in Bethlehem. The birth of Jesus in a little stable in Bethlehem forever changed the history of the world. Jesus was God with skin on, walking among us and showing us what God is like. He was not a man who became God, which is impossible, but God who became a man.
Make no mistake about it: though He was God, He also was fully man. Philippians 2:6-7 tells us that Jesus, "being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness" (NIV). He accepted all of the limitations of humanity except sin itself. Jesus experienced the physical emotions that we experience as well as the divine limitations.
Jesus grew tired like any other human being, because He lived in a human body. John 4:6 tells us that when He went to Samaria where He met the woman at the well, He was weary from the journey. He got tired just like we do.
Jesus experienced physical thirst. When He was on the cross, He cried out, "I thirst." He could have simply spoken, and a fountain of water would have gushed out of the earth, yet He experienced the physical limitation of being thirsty. He also knew physical hunger after fasting for 40 days and nights in the wilderness (see Matthew 4:2).
Jesus experienced physical weakness. As He was on His way to Calvary after having His back had been ripped open with the Roman cat-o'-nine-tails, causing a radical loss of blood, He fell under the weight of the cross. When He hung on the cross and said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46) and died, He experienced death like any human would experience it.
Jesus knew anger, but we might classify as righteous indignation. It wasn't the same anger we have. God's anger is a righteous anger, which we see demonstrated in the Gospels. We read that on one occasion, Jesus went into the outer area of the temple and started turning over the tables of the moneychangers and vendors. He took out a whip and started driving them out, saying, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves' " (Matthew 21:13 NKJV).
Jesus felt deep sorrow as well. We see Jesus experiencing a broad range of human emotions in the story of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead (see John 11). Jesus was the friend of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. As He saw them weeping over the death of Lazarus, He wept (:35).
Hebrews 4:15-16 says, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (NKJV). Talk about having friends in high places. The Bible is saying that you are not serving a God who is disinterested in you. You are not serving a God who doesn't know what it is like to literally walk in your shoes. So you can go boldly to the throne of grace and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus Christ, who was God in human form, never lived for a moment outside of the perfect will of God. He never gave in to a temptation. He never had an impure thought. He never did one wrong thing. He never displeased His Father in the smallest matter. He was flawless. He was sinless. He was perfect.
So why did Jesus come to earth as God in human form? Was it to give us the ultimate teachings ever? No. Though they were the greatest teachings ever given, He came here for more than that. Did Jesus come to set the perfect example of how a man or woman should live? He came to do that and much more. Did Jesus walk this earth merely to do miracles and heal people? While He always reached out to people in need, that was not His primary purpose.
C. S. Lewis said it well: "The Son of God became a man that men might become sons of God." God became a man so that you might become God's child. Now that is something worth celebrating.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:11 am |
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For the body does not consist of one member but of many. But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
--1 Corinthians 12:14,18
You have a job to do in the body of Christ. Every member is a minister. You don’t have to resign from your job for God to have a ministry for you.
And when we work together, cooperating in God’s church among God’s people, the impact is amazing.
Now, Nehemiah leaves a very sad commentary in Nehemiah chapter 3 when he talks about a group of people called the Tekoites. These people were farmers who helped repair the wall of Jerusalem. In Nehemiah 3:5, Nehemiah says, “And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.”
The nobles thought they were too good! They wouldn’t stoop down. They didn’t want to get their hands dirty. They thought they were above working on a wall, just shoving bricks around. So what did they do? They sat out while others worked!
It’s always been an amazing thing to me that some believers watch while others work. How some believers sit while others serve! To me, a non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms.
Perhaps today, you’d admit that you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, watching while others get their hands dirty doing the work of the Lord. And who knows, maybe you have a list a mile long as to why you’re not involved in some kind of ministry in your church or elsewhere. Or maybe you don’t think there’s a place of ministry for you.
If so, I want to ask you to perform an experiment this week. I want you to call your church and ask them if they need help in any area of ministry. Whether it’s ushering, parking cars, working with children, or sweeping floors, just ask if there’s some place where they need help. If you do this, I can promise you that God will use you in a mighty way… a way you never thought possible!
In addition to that, I’m confident that God will bless your life as you make yourself available in service to Him.
GET IN THE GAME! SERVE SOMEONE IN CHRIST’S NAME THIS WEEK.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:39 am |
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REALLY EVERYTHING
Abide in Me . . . for without Me you can do nothing. -John 15:4-5 (NKJV)
"Abide in Me . . . for without Me you can do nothing." Could there have been any stronger way for Jesus to get His point across? The One who knows all things perfectly looks at us in our human condition and essentially says, "You're totally helpless on your own."
Allow that to sink in and think through the implications. The opposite of nothing is everything. So abiding in Christ is really everything. Let's listen to what the Lord is saying here and agree on this; abiding in Christ is absolutely essential. But how do we do that? How do we actually do this thing called "abiding"? We find out when we fast-forward a handful of verses:
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love... (John 15:10 NKJV)
Notice how Jesus says that abiding in Him is a direct result of keeping His commandments. So in order to abide we need to obey. Well what does that look like? Follow the flow; a couple of verses later we're specifically shown which commandment we need to obey:
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12 NKJV)
When you back up and look at all of this through a long lens, here's what you see. Abiding requires obeying, and obeying requires loving…loving each other with Christ's love. The reverse is equally true. If we aren't loving, then we aren't obeying, and if we aren't obeying then we aren't abiding, and if we're not abiding then we're going to be totally helpless in life.
Loving isn't optional…it's essential. It determines our ability to stay connected to Christ, which is really everything.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:17 am |
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WE HAVE NO RECORD OF THAT
Love . . . keeps no record of being wronged. -1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NLT)
It sort of snuck up on you. As you checked-off your daily duties at the office, you noticed that you needed to make several copies for a presentation that afternoon. You stopped what you were doing, made your way to the copy room, and typed in the amount of collated and stapled sets you were going to need. The copier began to obediently whir and purr into action, and you headed back to your desk.
A half-hour passed and you figured your copies should be done, giving you plenty of time to prepare for your presentation. So you headed back to the copy room and . . . the stack of copies you expected to see was nowhere in sight. Instead, there was a co-worker running off her own stack of copies. "Were you using this? I'm sorry but I've got to get these done ASAP so I just jumped in. Hope you don't mind."
You started the day with a great attitude, but now your attitude is being challenged. You've been wronged, and this is where you'll see how relevant God's love is in your life. Will you allow this to be the beginning of a grudge, or are you going to let love erase all record of this wrong?
Our human nature is to hang onto things, especially when it comes to slights and offenses. We do it regularly without even realizing it. Grudges are like weeds, they sort of grow all on their own, without any help or effort on our part.
But God's love keeps no record of wrongs. It takes hold of that clenched fist inside our heart and gently pries it open, allowing us to release the things that our human natures want to hold onto.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:34 am |
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THE PROOF
Anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. -1 John 4:8 (NLT)
Throughout this month, we've been looking at the importance of love from various angles. We've seen how love ought to be our top priority, that it's a source of hope, unity, forgiveness, and so on. But now we're going to raise the stakes. In addition to everything else that we've seen concerning love, it's also the actual proof that our lives belong to God.
Notice what we read here: "Anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love." If you don't love, then you don't know God. It's as simple as that. Isn't that being harsh and judgmental? No, it's being real and logical.
Think it through. If God is love, and if we're truly His children, shouldn't we resemble His primary characteristic? Children naturally take on the traits of their parents because it's in their DNA to do so. The same principle applies when it comes to our relationship with God. It's in our spiritual DNA to resemble our Divine Dad. So what does it indicate about us if our lives are devoid of what He is?
Please don't misunderstand, we all miss the mark, and we could all love more and better. But at the same time, God loves us enough to tell us that something is seriously wrong if there's no love at all. This isn't intended to condemn but to get us to think. If the self-less and unconditional love of God is foreign to us, if nothing that we've gone over this month rings a bell, we need to re-examine where we're at with Him, or if we're even His.
"Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:35 NLT)
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Tue Sep 23, 2008 6:53 am |
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“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” Ephesians 3:14-15
I am going home for a few days to see my family. As I say the words “home” and “family,” I catch myself wondering what my definition of these two words really are to me today. Technically, I have three families: one in my own home, the second in the family I grew up, and third is the family of God. The same context applies to with the word “home.” For some of us, home is somewhere away from the family and vice versa. Confusing? Now let’s add what Paul says about our “family.” We are all one big family in heaven and earth named by our heavenly Father. Our real home awaits us in heaven. Until then, we all seek and search for that loving embrace and acceptance from our earthly homes and families.
So, what is the point? For me, every time I “go home,” I end up dealing with certain emotions, feelings and thoughts. Some are pleasant and some are not. Death, divorce and disease are just a few of those unpleasant ones that have touched my family. However, there is also that family connection God has put within all of us of a desire to spend time together and have fellowship. For me though, I am most thankful for the family of Christ. As I look around my life today, I realize that the friendships I have represent the family that God has given me. I am so very thankful for the love and fellowship in the body of Christ.
Even if our earthly families are not the most stable and strong, we can be encouraged to know that our heavenly family is one in the Lord. It will not matter when we get to heaven who did what to whom or how much pain was involved. Our heavenly Father will take care of us all and home will be with Him. The old saying says that, “home is where the heart is.” I believe that to be true. If my heart is with Jesus, then there my home is also, not just with Jesus in heaven but here on earth with His family. I love and appreciate my family very much but I take much comfort in knowing that I have the greatest family of all in the body of Christ.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Fri Sep 26, 2008 12:29 pm |
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PROBLEM PEOPLE?
But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. -1 John 2:11 (NLT)
There's a poem that basically says, "To dwell above with the saints in love, oh, that will be glory. But to dwell below with the folks I know, well, that's another story."
All of us can think of a few folks in the Body of Christ who've made our lives difficult and who always seem to rub us the wrong way. Perhaps it's the way they look, sound, or smell. But from God's perspective, how someone looks, sounds or smells isn't what's on trial. It's our attitude towards those who bug us.
God uses His Church as a testing ground to reveal how well we're doing in the love department, and nothing reveals a lack of love better than problematic people. For that reason, God makes sure we always have open access to them. Their presence in the Church environment trains us to exercise Christ's love like nothing else can, and we should be thankful that they're there.
Keep in mind that one day all of our works will be on trial before God. His refining fire will reveal the motivation behind what we've done, whether or not we did the right things for the right reasons, and whether our actions were motivated by love or something else (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
When we make Christ's love the basis for our interaction and fellowship in the Church, we're passing our personal test and investing in the Kingdom to come. If we view problem people as the means by which God tests us and prepares us for eternal things, we'll be a lot less bugged by them and a lot more thankful for them.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:04 pm |
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Listening to the Master's Voice
2 Corinthians 12:9
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Ignace Paderwski, the famous concert pianist and prime minister of Poland, once held an unforgettable concert.
As history records, the concert hall was packed and everyone waited in anticipation for the master to make his appearance. There was a certain mother in the crowd who, wishing to encourage her young son's progress at the piano, had purchased tickets to the performance. As she and her son made their way through to the front - row seating, the young boy stared in awe at everything – especially the majestic grand piano on center stage. When his mother began talking to one of her friends, he made an escape to center stage.
The sound of the piano was heard by the audience, causing the room to grow quiet. To their surprise, however, the figure sitting on the bench and pounding away at the keys was not the master Paderwski, but a young boy, innocently playing the tune "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
When his mother saw him she gasped, but the crowd thought it rather humorous at first and began to laugh. After a while, however, they grew impatient and began to shout, "Get him off the stage." Before his mother could retrieve him, Paderwski, hearing the commotion, finally made an appearance. He quickly moved to the piano and whispered to the boy, "Don't quit – keep playing."
Leaning over the boy's shoulder, Paderwski reached down with his left hand and began filling in a bass line. Then, with his right arm, he reached around the other side, encircling the child, and added a running obbligato. Together the old concert master and the young boy held the crowd mesmerized by their beautiful duet. All the while, the piano master kept whispering, "Don't stop, son, don't quit."
In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is Christ, our Master, who surrounds us and whispers in our ears time and time again, "Don't stop, son, don't quit." None of us are truly accomplished. None of us ever master life. Instead, wrong notes are played and no matter how hard we concentrate, our hands grow tired, our minds get distracted and our hearts become discouraged. But in spite of our inexperience, our ignorance, and our weakness, Jesus Christ places His sovereign fingers beside ours and whispers in our ears, "Don't quit; don't stop."
Although you may feel like a failure at times, believing that your life is no more beautiful than the sound of a young child pounding out "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", you must refuse the desire to give up. Instead, rely upon the power of Christ to strengthen and help you. He can turn your simple tune into a magnum opus.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:22 pm |
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LOVE IS A COMPASS
. . . walk in love . . . -Ephesians 5:2 (NKJV)
Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to know what you were supposed to do in life? What if there was something that brought a sense of absolute clarity to every scenario and circumstance? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a compass to guide us through the situational maze of our daily existence? It would, and there is.
The compass is love because no matter where we're at or what decisions we're faced with, love is always the correct course of action. Love will never steer us wrong. It will always point us to the right path, and we can always discover it by asking ourselves the question, "What's the loving thing to do?"
So you've been seeing someone for a few weeks now, but you know you're really not interested in the relationship going any further. What should you do? What's the loving thing to do? You find yourself caught in the middle of a dispute between two people. What should you do? What's the loving thing to do? You've been asked to volunteer at church, but you know that your family really needs you to be at home. What should you do? What's the loving thing to do?
The scenarios are endless, and so are the effective applications of love. It brings a tremendous sense of clarity to our lives and helps us put things in their proper perspective. When we walk in love, we're always going to walk in the right direction.
Walk in love. Allow it to lead you in all that you do, think, and say. For in doing so, you can be assured that you're walking in the will of God.
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. (John 13:34 NLT)
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:00 am |
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Reaping the Whirlwind
I have had the privilege of traveling throughout the world, and have visited many countries, including a few communist nations. But I am always glad to come home to the United States of America, because I believe it is the greatest nation on Earth.
Imagine what kind of world we would live in today if there never had been a United States of America. There would have been no one to turn back the Nazis and their allies in World War II, no one to stand up against the tyranny of communism over the years, and no one to stand up for the small nations that are unable to help themselves. That is not to mention the billions of dollars in foreign aid that has been sent to help those in need.
As you know, in 1776, our founding fathers signed a document called the Declaration of Independence. Among other things, this declaration says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Our Declaration of Independence states that we have the right to pursue happiness. Yet, are we a happy people?
Some of us might think, "I would be happy if I could just be rich and famous and have disposable income." But if that were the case, why are there miserable wealthy people? One philosopher has observed, "The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness."
In the United States today, the accumulation of material goods are at an all-time high. So is the number of people who feel emptiness in their lives. What has gone wrong? Even the person on the lowest rung of the economic ladder in America has it better than the majority of the people living in many other countries today.
Yet there is emptiness. As the Bible says, "They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind . . . " (Hosea 8:7 NKJV).
We have what you might describe as "trouble in paradise." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States and the third leading cause among U.S. residents ages 10 to 24, comprising 11.7 percent of all deaths in this age group.
Why is there hopelessness in the hearts of America's youth? The answer is that we have forgotten God. In our pursuit of freedom, we have lost sight of the Creator who gave us clear parameters to live by. For many, that pursuit of freedom has led to a life of bondage and despair.
But in all fairness, what did we expect? After all, this is a generation that has been raised to believe we are all products of the evolutionary process. They are told there is no God, there is no plan or purpose for their lives, and they are the masters of their own destinies. They are taught they are good inside and are products of their environment.
Yet in the Bible's assessment of the problems of man, it doesn't say we are all victims, as some would assert. It doesn't say we all have diseases, as others would tell us. It doesn't say we are merely dysfunctional.
It says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked . . . " (Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV). That is why we do the things we do.
Because of this, we need to realize that no politician will save us. No act of Congress will turn America around. Even the president cannot solve all of our problems.
The answer to America's problems is not political; it is spiritual. Although we have forgotten God, He has not forgotten us. We need to turn back to God, and I think we had better do it soon.
We need to get back to the God our founding fathers believed in when they established this nation. We need to get back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We need to get back to the God who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sin. We need to get back to the true and living God who can save America.
It is my belief that our nation has two choices before her today. One is judgment. The other is spiritual awakening or revival. That is what we need to pray for in the United States of America.
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:01 am |
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TRUE LOVE
Love . . . rejoices whenever the truth wins out. -1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (NLT)
In a world filled with gimmicks, empty promises, scam artists, and hidden costs, truth has never been more needed or appreciated. Let's face it. The truth is hard to come by these days. But we can always trust that truth will be promoted in the presence of love.
The Bible tells us that it's in love's nature to rejoice whenever the truth wins out. Love never deals deceitfully, love never lies about anything, and love doesn't conceal any valuable information. It throws a party whenever reality is revealed.
Why is it important for us to see this connection? Because a lot of us are uncomfortable when it comes to love. A lot of us are afraid to love. Something happened in our past, somebody told us that they loved us, and we believed them and felt secure in our relationship with them. But our trust was betrayed, and we were left bruised and burned. We don't want to go through that pain again, and so we shy away.
But that wasn't God's love. That was an imitation. Again, the love of God is going to be truthful, it's going to be open, and it's going to be honest in every regard. It's different from what we've experienced in the past, and if we haven't already, we need to trust it. When we do, we'll find that it brings a sense of security, integrity, and reality to our relationships-because love and truth are lifelong neighbors.
Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ-the Son of the Father-will continue to be with us who live in truth and love. (2 John 1:3 NLT)
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N2K
Joined: 06 Jul 2006
Posts: 9292
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Posted:
Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:25 am |
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Question and Answer Concerning Death and Heaven:
I have been thinking about our time on earth and how it is limited. We know that heaven is a glorious place, but why then do we fear getting older? And why does it hurt so much when a loved one dies? Shouldn't we be cheering instead of mourning, since they will be in a better place?
Life on planet Earth can’t begin to compare to heaven, and yet it is all we know with our limited senses. The failure in our thinking has to do with faith. If we fully believed what the Bible teaches about heaven and earth, we would cry when a baby is born and rejoice when someone dies. It takes moving beyond our physical world into the spiritual realm before we can see how backward we truly are on the subject of death. From God’s vantage point, death is a precious experience: Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints (Psalms 116:15). It is a homecoming to a place with no more sorrow, pain, suffering, or death. From the perspective of faith: . . . Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. So we set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time. But what we cannot see will last forever -2 Corinthians 4:16, 18-. Only when we walk by faith will death become God’s greatest gift to mankind.
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N2K
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Posts: 9292
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