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“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on a rock”.
Matthew 7: 24
In John Bevere’s book The Bait of Satan, he explains that trials and tests locate a person. He says that it determines your spirituality and reveals the true conditions of your heart.
How we react under pressure is how our real person or our true character reacts.
To give illustration to this principle Bevere used two different types of houses. We can have a house built on sand that is five stories high and beautiful, decorated with the most elaborate materials and craftsmanship. As long as the sun is shining, it looks like bulwark of strength and beauty.
Next to that house you can have a single story plain house. It is almost un-noticeable and possible unattractive compared to the beautiful building next to it. But it’s built on something you can’t see-a rock.
As long as no storm strike, the five story house looks much nicer. But when it encounters a severe storm, the five story house collapses and is ruined. It may survive a few minor storms but not the hurricane. The plain, one story structure survives. The larger the house the harder and more noteworthy it’s fall.
Many Christians are like the five story house. They look nice, they say all the right things, and they seem so spiritual. But when there is a major storm in their life they are shaken and fall away from the faith. Many other Christians are like the one story plain house, they don’t have flashy spiritual gifts, they are not in front of the congregation all of the time, and they don’t seek the spotlight; but they never waiver in their faith. What kind of house are we depends on how we react to pressure.
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 16:18
One way the enemy keeps a person in an offended state is to keep the offenses hidden, cloaked with pride. Pride will keep you from admitting your true conditions.
Pride keeps you from dealing with the truth. It distorts your vision. You never change when you think everything is fine. Pride hardens your heart and dims the eyes of your understanding. It keeps you from the change of heart -repentance- that will set you free.
Pride causes you to view yourself as a victim. Your attitude becomes, ’I was mistreated and misjudged; therefore, I am justified in my behavior.’ Because (we) believe (we) are innocent and falsely accused, we withhold forgiveness. Though your true heart condition is hidden from you, it is not hidden from God. Just because (we) have been mistreated, (we) do not have permission to hold on to an offense. “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
(The Bait of Satan, John Berree, 1994)
I have been hurt severely by many people over the years. I would often say that I was not hurt. I knew it was wrong to be offended as I denied and repressed it. I convinced myself I was not hurt, but in reality, I was. My pride covered the true condition of my heart.
What offense have we covered, concealed, and repressed in the inner places of our heart? What damage are they doing to our soul? Have we taken the bait of Satan?
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Luke 23:34
Maybe the best way to understand what forgiveness is to understand what it is not.
Forgiveness is not forgetting. There is no command that we must forget the wrongs done to us. Instead, we must not hold a debt or grudge against them.
Forgiveness is not forgetting the hurt or shrugging it off. So many people say,’ that’s alright’ when it was not alright. Or that it is OK when it was not OK. Forgiveness means taking the offense seriously not just shrugging it off. Don’t make forgiveness in to a cover for abuse.
Forgiveness is not trust. Forgiveness does not mean that people are put back into a trusted position where they can do more damage. You can forgive but not trust. Forgiveness is given because God gave it to us. But trust must be earned.
Forgiveness is not reconciliation. Forgiveness is the pathway to reconciliation but it is not reconciliation. Forgiveness takes one party but reconciliation takes two.
Forgiveness is a fresh start. An author, Douglas Steere, stated that forgiveness is not a condition in which the sin of the past is not altered or its inevitable consequences changes. But rather, in forgiveness a fresh act is added to those of the past, which restores the broken relationship and opens the way for both parties to meet and communicate deeply with each other in the present and future. True forgiveness is a first step toward healing.
“Hope In Disaster”
“God is our refuge and strength a very present help in the time of trouble.” Psalm 46:1
In the last week, most of us have witnessed the devastation that has occurred in Haiti. A 7.0 earthquake with aftershocks of nearly the same proportion have destroyed Haiti’s Capital, Port-au-Prince. It has been estimated that at least 100,000 dead, a half million wounded, and over a million homeless. Thousands of children are roaming the street, newly orphan. The critical needs of food, water, shelter, and medical attention are not reaching the masses of people because of blocked roads and impassible streets.
Yet in this in this sad, difficult, and heart-wrenching calamity, God still provides hope. A hope that sustains us. A hope that strengthens us. A hope that does not fail. A hope that let’s us know that God is still in charge.
A hope found in a small boy found underneath the rubble seven days after the earthquake. A hope found in a woman deep under the rubble of several homes knowing that she would be discovered when most of us would have given up. A hope found in a woman eight days after the earthquake who kept singing praises to God through her entire ordeal and was found because the workers heard her singing. A hope found in a millionaire basketball player’s tears as he wept for his country.
A hope that as the world turns it’s attention to Haiti that some of the long standing issues of injustice that have plagued Haiti and have kept Haiti as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere will now finally be addressed. A hope that is renewed out of rubble that a new Haiti will emerge. Let us pray and work for a Haiti stronger, more prosperous, more democratic, and more fully committed to realizing the full potential of each of its citizens.
The purpose of a stewardship campaign is to strengthen every believer in the local church. A Christian’s business in God’s business. God has instructed us on how to use our time, talent, and treasures for the glory of God. Therefore, a stewardship campaign should educate church members about how to manage God’s resources.
TIME
TALENT
TREASURE
Christian Stewardship is the recognition that everything belongs to God and we are called to protect, manage, and care for His property. Christian discipleship is developing a personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ in which he transforms your character into Christ-likeness; changes in your values into Kingdom values; and involves you in His mission in the home, the church, and the world. Christian Stewardship and Discipleship are two sides of the same coin. To be a Steward is to be a Disciple and to be a Disciple is to be a Steward.
In book 4: The Disciples Mission you will be taken to the next stage in your discipleship journey by teaching you what it means to “’go and make disciples of all nations’”(Matthew 28:19). As you examine an illustration of lifelong spiritual growth, you will make plans for your continued spiritual growth, witness for lost persons, and begin discipling other believers. You will discover your spiritual gifts and will determine a ministry to which God is leading you. This study will help you with many skills you need to make disciples and to minister to others. In addition, you will continue to practice the six disciplines you learned in Masterlife 1: The Disciples Cross:
Spend time with the Master
Live in the Word
Pray in faith
Fellowship with other believers
Witness to the world
Minister to others
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you he is Christ the Lord.’
Luke 2: 8-12
We celebrate a lot of things during this season. For many Christmas has become a secular holiday where toys and gifts are exchanged and families come together. For more, it has become a celebration of Santa, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, or Jack Frost. For others, it has become a season of crass commercialism where businesses are made or lost. For more still, it has become a season of 50% off sales, the hottest new toy, or the newest electronic invention designed to tickle our fancy but not encourage our Spirit.
Therefore during this season, we need to hold tighter to what is true and what will last. The truth is that during this season we celebrate that Jesus, the Son of God and the Savior of the World was born. We celebrate that he is the salvation of the world, the savior of our souls, and the sacrificial lamb for our sins. We celebrate that Jesus came to this earth to heal the broken hearted, to set the captives free and set at liberty those that were bruised. He came to give us life and to give us life more abundantly. He came to seek and save the lost.
This is why we should celebrate Jesus. He loves us, he saved us, he heals us, he sets us free, he redeems us, he provides for us, he cares for us, he rejoices over us, and he suffered and died for us.
How should we celebrate? The bible says, “ That we should love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our mind.” We celebrate him then with our love, our hearts, our emotions, with our feelings, with our thoughts, with our praise, with our worship, and with everything that is in us! During this season let us focus on celebrating the blessor and not the blessings, and the blessor is Jesus Christ.
“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion [on him], And went to [him], and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave [them] to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.” Luke 10:33-35
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Four Principles of Loving Your Neighbor
1. He changed his Schedule. To be a good neighbor we often have to change our plans. The Samaritan was on a journey on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho. He could have simply kept to his schedule like so many of us do and make it to Jericho as quickly as possible. But instead he changed his schedule for someone else. Many of us are too busy with the cares of this world to take the time to reach out to others. We must have the courage to change our lives for others.
2. He left his Comfort Zone. The road to Jericho was a dangerous place. Often bands of robbers would lay in wait on this road ready to attack unsuspecting travelers. Unlike the other two travelers, the Samaritan went beyond his comfort zone to come to where the man was hurt. Every day hurt people are laying around us but how many of us will leave the comfort zone of our homes, cars or places of employment to come to the places where people are hurting.
3. He felt Compassion. He felt a deep sympathy and sorrow for the man and felt a great need to end his suffering. But he did not just feel compassion but the compassion moved him to action. We often feel compassion for the needs of others but how often are we moved to action. A neighbor is a person of action.
4. He Bound his Wounds. He saw his pain but did not judge him for it. He did not ask how the man got in this situation. He did not blame him for being attacked by robbers. He did not chastise him for failing to protect himself. He did not gossip to others about the man’s wounds. He simply bound up his wounds. We often judge people for their wounds. We judge them for their addictions, their sins, their weakness, their faults and their mistakes instead of binding their wounds and leading them to true healing.
We pray that God will allow us to truly love our neighbors as God commands us to do. May God give you peace in this season.
“For I was a hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer , Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you? Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ Matthew 25: 42-45
Truly one of the most powerful verses of the bible, Jesus, the son of God , at the last supper announces that he identifies himself with the least and the lost of this world. Jesus, second person of the true God, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Bright and Morning Star, the Lilly of the Valley, our Redeemer, our Savior, and our Lord says to the world that not ministering to the needs of the least people of the world is exactly the same as not ministering to him.
In this celebrity crazied society which worships the rich and famous, people are constantly try to identify themselves with the rich and power. We do this by following their lives through magazines, television, and the internet. We purchase clothes with their pictures or their names on it. We buy their colognes or perfumes to be like them. We buy cars, boats, watches or other items they endorse to be close to them. Some even change their facial appearance to look like their favorite celebrity.
In stark contrast, Jesus does not indentify himself with the rich, the power, and the celebrities of the world. He identifies himself with the poor, the powerless, the inconsequential or as he says it, ”the least of these’. He says to the world if least are not fed then he is not fed, if the least are sick then he is sick, if the least are thirsty then he is thirsty, and if the least are lonely in prison then he is lonely in prison.
Through this parable Jesus is saying a Christian must identify himself not with the rich and famous, but with those in need. Their needs become our needs. Their thirst becomes our thirst. Their hunger becomes our hunger. Their sickness becomes our sickness. Their pain becomes our pain. Only through this shared suffering can we all have hope. A hope that does not die, that does not fail, and that does not disappoint. A hope that is in Jesus.
Who do you Identify With?
The Season of Advent is a season of Hope. Hope is the confident expectation of God’s miracles in made manifest in our lives. Hope is not a dream. Hope is not a wish. Hope is not an imagination. Hope is a reality. Hope is what sustains through our darkness hours. Hope is what lifts our spirits when frustration surrounds us. Hope is what empowers when the bonds of sin capture us. Hope is what moves us to action when the world says all is lost.
The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea and others had to give grim prophesies to the people of Israel. Because of their sin their cites were to be burn, their families torn asunder, their finances plunder, their spouses separated from them, their temples pillaged , their armies destroyed, their country invaded and they were to be thrown into slavery. On top of all of that ,they had to be told that it was their God who allowed this to happen.
But throughout these grim pronouncements, throughout theses devastating turn of events, throughout these difficult and harrowing circumstances, there was still hope. Hope in a child to be born of virgin, hope in a child clothed in swaddling clothes, hope in child to be born in a manger, hope in a child that would be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, prince of peace, king of Kings and Lord of Lords, hope in a child that shall be called Emmanuel or God is with us; that hope, our hope, is Jesus!