Tag: Pondering Accountability

Leading Lives of Consistency. Nehemiah 11:1-2, 1 John 2:4-6

Nehemiah 11:1-2 Amplified Bible

Time Passes; Heads of Provinces

11 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem; but the rest of the people cast lots to bring one [person] out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities. 2 And the people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

As time passes us by ……

And time will consistently pass us by ……

We can consistently bet our lives on it and time will always consistently win.

As the clock keeps right on ticking even after we remove the inner workings of the watch, even after we slam the snooze button, or we unplug the alarm clock.

Examining pros and cons, benefits, detractions of daylight savings time.

Time keeps right on going whether we like it or not, consistently, every second.

Time is going to do whatever it is time wants to do – consistently, every single moment of every single second of every single day – for quite literally, eternity.

How do we consistently contemplate leading lives of such equal consistency as Christians in this consistently busy, consistently fast paced, changing world?

To begin with, we might try consistently contemplating our living out this consistency exactly where God has placed us.

We are needed where we are planted, in our homes and community as a church.

There are constantly people who consistently live with real needs all around us.

What if we consistently sacrificed our lives on a daily basis, celebrating what God has done in us, by serving others and sharing the good news of Jesus? What if we consistently stepped out into God’s neighborhood to make a difference?

In Nehemiah 11, we see a people, immediately after rededicating their lives to the Lord their God, and renewing their covenant with Him in chapter 10, stayed consistent and began taking consistent and decisive, definitive steps to fulfill their renewed covenant commitment by moving their lives into Jerusalem.

This was not an easy or safe task, but one that showed their consistent devotion to God, which they declared in the previous chapter 10.

What we learn from this is that leading lives of consistency is not a one-time thing; not once a month, not weekly, but hourly and even second by second.

We are called to consistently sacrifice for God’s mission and to be an example (of Jesus) to others consistently.

It is forever easy to say you want to be more constant with your walk with Jesus after a great night of worship, but it is another to live it out in all your daily life.

How consistent are you to consistently live out the faith you consistently profess?

Can you make a change today that will help you live more consistently for Jesus?

1 John 2:4-6Amplified Bible

4 Whoever says, “I have come to know Him,” but does not habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings), is a liar, and the truth [of the divine word] is not in him. 5 But whoever habitually keeps His word and obeys His precepts [and treasures His message in its entirety], in him the love of God has truly been perfected [it is completed and has reached maturity]. By this we know [for certain] that we are in Him: 6 whoever says he lives in Christ [that is, whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior] ought [as a moral obligation] to walk and conduct himself just as He walked and conducted Himself.

Now, we will discuss other side of consistency being inconsistency. What does it look like when you know that someone’s words are different than their actions?

In 1 John 2 we see a sobering picture of what consistency is, and what it is not.

Paraphrasing the first part of chapter 2, John essentially says that if you say you have “consistently” received the love and grace of Jesus Christ, but do not live by His commandments, then you are a liar, and the truth of God is not in you.

In other words,

if you have put your faith in Jesus and there is no outward change, no want nor desire to know Him more, no want to love the things He loves, no care for His mission with consistency, then you should stop and really examine your heart.

You should contemplate stopping and examine your walk and relationship with Him, because something consistently appears to be consistently out of order.

Our walk and growth in Jesus will never be perfect… so please do not hear me saying when we have the slightest mess up, we should question all of our faith.

What I am saying is what John is: when we do sin, we have an advocate with the father, who has paid the price for our mess-ups and His name is Savior Jesus.

Lord and Savior Jesus set the perfect example, which should consistently serve to consistently inspire us to consistently strive for consistency in all our faith.

Someone who is consistent behaves in the same way, has the same attitudes towards people or things, or achieves the same level of success in something.

In consistency, there is no contradiction.

there is continuity, practice, determination, faithfulness, balance, harmony, stability, orderliness, reliability and quality.

As Christians, we need to accept nothing less than true consistency!

Paul and Barnabas spoke of the need for a congregation to be consistent 

– Acts 13:43 43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to {consistently} continue in the grace of God. 

Consider contemplating Acts 14:22 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to {consistently} continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

From God’s own Words, the declaration is clear that we as Christians should be consistent in godly living, consistently continue in the covenant ways of God.

There is no need for anyone to think that consistency is not needed in our lives!

When we do everything, God requires from us, we must not slack nor be distracted because there is nothing to glory about it.

We still have a whole lot more Kingdom work to do for the transformation process to continue. 

Luke 17:10 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” 

Reality: God has shown the greatest love to mankind by the death of His Son. God has done more for us by allowing us to find an entrance into His church.

Because more is consistently done for us, we have a consistent obligation to do more to ensure the transformation process God intends continues to manifest.

It not only brings consistency, but it also shows reflection that we are grateful to God for the work of redemption.

“To whom much is given — of them much shall be required.”

The blessings we consistently enjoy are not the fruit of our merit — but the fruit of God’s consistent and never changing and always and forever available mercy.

By how much the more grace we have received (Romans 6:1) — by so much the more the maximum magnitude of glory we are obliged to return unto the Giver. 

A grateful mind is a great mind.

A consistent life means that we carefully consider the effect our lifestyle on our society.

A consistent life is a looking-glass, wherein Christ sees His own likeness. 

A consistent life means that we recognize that our dependency is on God. 

We must be consistent in our Christian lives because we know our consistency is not derived from our finite strength or finite skill but from the power of God. 

Godly duties performed are regarded before God when we allow Christ fills them.

Any good work we do can never be sustained without the support of Christ or the power of the Holy Spirit.

If we ever do any good work, it is still not the reason for our continued physical existence – Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the very reason why we are alive.

When we have kept all the commandments, there is one commandment above all to be kept; that is, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags!”

In most of our works — we are abominable sinners; and in the best of our works — we are consistently unprofitable servants, consistently unconscionable sinners.

Hebrews 13:8Amplified Bible

8 Jesus Christ is [eternally changeless, always] the same yesterday and today and forever.

Let us always go in the unchanging, unchangeable strength of our Savior God.

What areas of our “Christian life” are consistently showing inconsistency?

How can we consistently make those continuous changes God presents to us?

And consistently focus on what Jesus is consistently calling each of us to do?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Great God in heaven, unchanging, unchangeable Savior, I believe in you and trust in you. I want to walk as Jesus walked. I want to abide in You. Be with me as I go about my day. Help me to make wise, wiser, decisions as I work to be more like you. Amen.

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Our Crossroads and God’s Roadmap. Jeremiah 6:16 and Matthew 7:13-14

Jeremiah 6:16Amplified Bible

16 
Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is; then walk in it,
And you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’

Matthew 7:13-14Amplified Bible

The Narrow and Wide Gates

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Just because a certain path seems right does not mean it’s the right one to take.

But that does not mean it is wrong either.

We must, therefore, ask and trust God to show us which way to go.

He knows the end from the beginning.

God will lead us in the right way.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11.

What a wonderfully assuring thing it is to believe that even when we are faced, confronted by the biggest and most difficult decisions in life, the Word of God for the Children of God makes known to us the sure paths that will bring life.

WHAT ARE CROSSROADS?

Literally, a crossroad is a road that crosses another.

It is the place where two or more roads intersect.

Figuratively, to be “at a crossroad” is to be at a stage in one’s life when it is necessary to choose a path that will affect one’s life in truly profound ways.

A crossroad is a place of decision.

It is a place of doubts and questions.

A crossroad is a place where we wrestle with conflicting voices.

It is a transit point.

A crossroad is a gate or access point.

It is a place of separation and goodbye.

A crossroads is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another one.

A crossroad is a critical moment.

It can be a place of crisis, where the pains of yesterday connects us to the hope of the coming tomorrow.

A crossroad is a place of opportunity, where the road ahead offers promises.

A crossroad is a point in your life where you have several options that you need to weigh.

Each option on each crossroad will lead you to a different destination or goal.

Each path on each crossroad will to a different destination.

Crossroads are unavoidable.

Crossroads are inevitable.

Every day, we make significant decision that will affects our lives positively or negatively.

The choice to continue the same straight path is no longer possible.

A decision has to be made.

The straight road has now split into two or more.

Which decision will you make?

Looking left, right, back from where you came, and looking straight ahead.

Where do you turn?

Do you turn back to where you came, choose a path to follow, or do you stand around in the middle of the road and continuously scratch at your bald spot?

Which road is the right one?

And carefully, prayerfully weigh the consequence of choosing a decisive path?

Today, you may be standing at a crossroad.

Your crossroads could be one to decide your ministry or career path.

It could be the start or end of a relationship.

Your crossroad could be a choice of making a change right now or if you wait too long it might just become “too late” – whatever “too late” means to God.

It could be the choice of what course to study for what career field in college.

Do you make a choice of asking mom and dad – about entering into the military, or do you just go ahead on your own and enlist, ask for mom and dad’s support.

Your crossroad could be whether to start a business or hold on to your job.

It might be starting a relationship with that “special, lifelong someone,” and doing the career thing or to get married and starting a family of your very own.

Perhaps you are in a crossroad where you are faced with the decision to stay where you are or move on to another place – to another job or career field.

Perhaps it might even be a decision to finally put in your retirement papers.

Whatever pathway you decide to take, it will definitely affect the course of your life and destiny for an indeterminate period of time.

Are we ready for that “indeterminate period of time” right this exact moment?

When standing at the crossroads, the one thing we really need is guidance.

God definitely has set aside a path for us which leads to life! (Psalm 16:11)

He promises to guide, instructs, direct us when we are at the crossroads of life.

“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.” Isaiah 30:21.

God will always give you and me a direction to take in life.

But you and I still need to sharpen our hearing ability.

Matthew 7:13-14Amplified Bible

The Narrow and Wide Gates

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.

The parable of the two gates pictures the people of Earth walking on two roads.

One road is broad, and many walk that way.

The other road is narrow, and few find the gate to it.

These two roads don’t lead to the same place (Matthew 7:13-14).

We are fond of dividing the world into two.

We speak of the rich and the poor, but there are many people who are neither rich nor poor.

We speak of the bosses and the workers, but many people are neither, and some are both.

We speak of the educated and uneducated, but some people have education yet lack wisdom, whilst some uneducated people are very wise.

This just shows that dividing the world in two, or even three, is usually presumptuous, simplistic, inaccurate, and perhaps even alienating.

But does this apply to all cases?

In particular, is the world divided into the saved and the unsaved —those in God’s way and those following Satan?

Many folks would call that a presumptuous, simplistic, inaccurate, and alienating view of the world.

Only Two Ways

Rabbi Jesus, however, here divides humanity in just that manner: people are travelling either the broad road to destruction or the narrow road to life —just two groups and no exceptions (Matthew 7:13-14).

Later in that chapter, he again divides people into two groups: the wise who hear and do his words (Matthew 7:24), and the foolish who do not hear and do his words (Matthew 7:26).

On a later occasion, Jesus spoke of how he will, at the last judgment, separate the people of all nations into two “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32-33).

The “sheep” at his right hand will inherit the kingdom prepared for them (Matthew 25:34). 

The “goats” at his left hand will be sent into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). 

When these two groups have gone their way, nobody else shall remain (Matthew 25:46).

So, when Jesus pictures the two gates, or two builders, or the sheep separated from the goats, he has included all human beings.

Each of us is on one of those pathways.

Or to point the finger, you, I, are in one of those groups. 

Which one?

The Way of the Many

Not only has Jesus divided the world in two, but appallingly, he has numbered those who are on the road to destruction as “many” and those on the road to life as only a “few” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Why are there “many” going in at the wrong gate, walking on the wrong road?

Jesus gives no reason for the number.

He does not even indicate that the number cannot be changed.

He leaves it open that the majority could walk the way to life, and only a few walk the way to destruction, or for that matter everyone could walk the way to life leaving deserted the road which leads to inevitable destruction.

When Jesus says, “enter by the narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13), presumably he means anyone who listens to him say that, can make the choice do exactly that.

Why would Rabbi Jesus tell everybody to enter by the narrow gate, and walk the narrow way, if most of them cannot do that?

You might say, “Jesus does give the reason why many go down the broad way.

The word translated narrow means difficult.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/mat/7/13-14/t_conc_936014

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2346/kjv/tr/0-1/

It’s the nature of human beings to choose what’s easy, not what’s hard.”

Well, I am not so sure.

People do all kinds of things that are difficult because they think those things are right, they enjoy the challenge, they deem the reward well worth the effort.

Surely the Christian life is a worthy challenge, and brings a wonderful reward, such that you would expect many more people to choose it than actually do.

Choosing Destiny

Anyway, there is nothing compelling people to follow the broad way leading to destruction, even though most people do.

Destiny doesn’t force people to follow one of the two roads.

They choose the gate they enter; they choose the road they walk; hence they choose their destiny.

There is nothing preventing people from following the right way leading to life, even though few do.

The Way of the Few

Although Jesus speaks of two roads, only one of them is of his making.

Jesus never desired that there be a road to destruction, and he never caused anyone to follow it.

The broad road represents a way of living designed by Satan.

Jesus provides an alternative way, represented by the narrow road.

When Jesus says, “enter by the narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13), he refers to the gospel way of living.

In early times, Christianity was actually called “the Way” (Acts 19:9,23).

In fact, Jesus called himself the way: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6).

Seeking the Way

When Jesus mentioned the narrow gate and the difficult path beyond it, he said, “And few there be who find it” (Matthew 7:14). 

There are two ways you can find something.

One is to stumble upon it by some fortunate circumstance; the other is to seek it by making an intelligent and systematic search.

Rabbi Jesus tells us which way to find the gate to the true way: 

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7 NASB).

Total Commitment

We can gather from this that walking the narrow way means making an absolute and total commitment to Jesus Christ.

It means loving him, obeying him, depending on him, worshipping him, giving all of us to him, being his utterly committed and utterly devoted disciples.

And where do we start?

The Holy Spirit tells us clearly what to do to begin this journey, as follows…

DIVINE GUIDANCE and DIRECTION!

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.” Psalm 23:1-2.

When God is your Shepherd, you have access to all things that you need.

Divine guidance is God having the final say in running the affairs of your life.

When He’s leading, you are never alone.

God has a definite blueprint for your life and a road map to get you there.

WHAT TO DO WHEN AT LIFE’S CROSSROADS?

1. Know God.

Do you know Him?

Most people know about God, but they don’t really know Him.

To know God is to spend time with Him.

It is a relationship!

To know God is to obey Him.

To know God is to fear Him.

To know God is to trust Him unconditionally.

You must have a continuous daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

2. Be known by God.

Are you a child of God? (John 1:12-13)

Is Jesus your Lord and Savior? (Romans 10:9-13)

You must be born again. (John 3:1-15)

3. Pray the prayer of enquiry.

Prayer of enquiry is prayer for insight, guidance and direction.

It is asking God what to do about a particular situation.

Prayer of enquiry is to know God’s will concerning an issue.

It is a prayer to ask God why? Which? How? and When but NOT Why?

Ask him to give you ears to hear and eyes to see the ways He is speaking to you.

Consider fasting occasionally to help you focus more on God.

4. You must have faith.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight:” 2 Corinthians 5:7.

It is not for those who will walk by sight or logic.

Have unconditional faith in God’s promises to guide you.

5. Cultivate the presence of God through praise and worship.

Praise invites God into your situation immediately.

And where God is, there is liberty and fullness of joy. (2 Corinthians 3:15-18)

He will guide you when you give Him high praise and worship.

6. Dig deeper in the Bible.

The Bible has been rightly defined as, “Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth.”

The Bible is our spiritual GPS, always available to tell us which way leads to where we want to go and how to turn around if we get on the wrong path.

7. Be humble. Psalm 25:9.

He leads the humble in justice,
And He teaches the humble His way.

God loves humble people

8. Cultivate quietness.

Set aside a consistent time every day to meet with God.

Try starting out with a half-hour quiet time, and after you’ve developed greater intimacy with Him, increase that time to an hour.

It usually takes about five to ten minutes during the start of your quiet time to clear your mind enough to focus fully on God, so do not rush your quiet time.

9. Practice unconditional love.

Live without unforgiveness, malice, bitterness and anger.

10. Listen.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27.

God can speak through the following ways:

His Word. Psalm 107:20.

Audible voice. Genesis 12:1;

Dreams. Judges 7:13.

Visions. Genesis 46:2; and Prophets. Ezra 9:11.

Let your heart be still. Psalm 46:10

Block out the distraction.

Tune in to heaven’s radio.

11. Seek wise counsel

To some people, crossroads are places of confusion.

Don’t be afraid to ask for directions and seek wise counsel from family, trusted friends, a pastor or counsellor.

12. Be patient; Don’t be in a hurry.

No matter how long it takes, be confident that God has heard your prayers and will respond. Let your mind be at rest. Don’t try to rush through the process.

“Show me your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.” Psalm 25:4.

There is comfort in knowing God is guiding, leading and instructing us, especially when we are standing on crossroads.

But not many people are willing to ask for direction.

Come to God today!

Don’t live your life on logic, human reasoning, and trials.

It will only lead you to broken heart, failures and disappointments.

God has a better plan.

Don’t take steps on your own or make important decisions without asking Him.

Always strive to know the will of God concerning everything you are doing.

SO, WHAT’S OUR DECISION?

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14.

There is no neutral ground.

The Lord Jesus, who on the Cross at Calvary made the greatest sacrifice for us at the crossroad of Golgotha, said there is a broad road that leads to destruction and a narrow road that leads to eternal life.

What road have you chosen?

If you realized you are on the wrong road, why not repent and get on the right road today?

If you are willing to repent and surrender your life to Jesus Christ, then pray this prayer right now:

LORD Jesus, I come to You right now. I know I am a sinner, please forgive me my sins. With my mouth, I declare that Jesus, from today, I accept You as the LORD of my life. Change my heart from a disobedient heart to a heart that will obey You. With my new heart, I believe that it is because of me that You came into this world; You died for my sins, take away my problems, fill me with Your Holy Spirit, write my name in the Book of Life, and make me brand new in Jesus mighty name.

PRAYER POINTS

1. O Lord, have Mercy for placing my confidence in human reasoning, in Jesus name.

2. By Your Mercy, O Lord, save me from every wrong decision I have made, in Jesus name.

3. O Lord, open up my spiritual understanding, in Jesus name.

4. O God, teach me deep and secret things, in Jesus name.

5. O Lord, thank You for the revelation power of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus name.

6. O God, remove from me every form of distractions that has blocked my spiritual eyes and ears, in Jesus name..

7. My Father, give me the spirit of revelation and wisdom in the knowledge of You, in Jesus’ name.

8. Open my spiritual eyes, O Lord, to see visions concerning my life, in Jesus name.

9. I reject the manipulation of the spirit of confusion, in Jesus name.

10. My Father, guide and direct me in knowing Your mind, in Jesus name.

11. If . . . (mention it) is not Your will for me, O Lord, re-direct my steps, in Jesus name.

12. Thank God for answering your prayers.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit …..

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Sometimes it Takes a Crisis to Know we Belong and are Connected to God.

John 15:4-5Amplified Bible

4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. 5 [a]I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Do we BELONG anywhere or to anyone at any time in any one singular place?

Are we CONNECTED to anything or to any one which transcends ourselves?

Are we IN CONNECTION to anything or to anyone which transcends ourselves?

One of the most striking paradoxes of our current Internet, Broadband, WIFI, social media crazed culture today… is the crisis, believe it or not, of connection.

Never has our world experienced the level of connection that has become possible in just the last 10 years.

It’s become the world of social media globalization … an unlimited potential connection… What has emerged is the quite literal ability to be connected to anyone on the planet at any time …. and Time Zones do not seem to matter.

Yet never have people felt so disconnected….so alienated…so alone.

Sociologists and psychologists are describing the growing and deepening and darkening crisis of social alienation that is plaguing modern life.

Not just an issue of lacking popularity or social success…

Actress Winona Ryder Finds Fame Lonely

“When I was 18, I was driving around at two in the morning, completely crying and alone and scared. I drove by this magazine stand that had this Rolling Stone that I was on the cover of, and it said, ’Winona Ryder: The Luckiest Girl in the World.’ And there I was feeling more alone than I ever had.”

Citation: Winona Ryder, cited from Plugged In, Vol. 6, no. 4 (April 2001); submitted by Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky.

There is a very simple premise to this journey…

The search for connection… is a search for the common.

• The very root of the word “community” is “common.”

Here lies the challenge –

The loss of some transcendent connection gives rise to a tendency to find identity through distinctions that prove destructive.

From niche marketing and clothing styles… to social cliques and gangs… to ethnic rivalries and nationalism…

we are so hungry to find ourselves…to belong … that our identify is often simply reduced to that of identifying with some sub-group over and against others.

And those connections prove not only destructive… but dissatisfying…. far too fragile to really provide the deep and long-lasting connection we all long for.

The desperate alternative is to try and simply diminish our differences… forge ahead with “out of thin air,” elusive ideas of common identity… communism, “new” and “untried” tendencies of ‘social tolerance’ and spiritual relativism.

Our Need – to discover the common in the midst of the unique… not a bland conformity… but unity amidst diversity without socio-cultural divisiveness.

The question of equality and inequality, checks and balances. Differences don’t divide when they are centered and secured in the commonalities that connect.

Everything everywhere comes across or is aggressively marketed to us as being “deliberately, catastrophically, maliciously” (politically) unbalanced, unequal.

What part of our daily existence is not being presented as the “ultimate crisis of inequality” requiring some manner of socio-economic, socio-political answer?

Is genuine “equality” even achievable?

Biblically – Absolutely Not! …. when the assessment, evaluation, planning and application and definition of “genuine equality” is left in the hands of mankind.

Everyone has their own personal vision of what “genuine equality” means and how it should be addressed in the grand scheme of things – whatever that word and phrase “grand scheme of things” implies, means to whoever is in charge.

And thus, our greatest crisis is …… which drives everyone it seems into a frenzy,

So, who is in charge?

From our Gospel Narrative, the man, Master Rabbi Jesus simplifies it for us ….

John 15:1-5 Amplified Bible

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “[a]I am the true Vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have given you [the teachings which I have discussed with you]. 4 Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. 5 [b]I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

God Himself set the Eternal Record straight before mankind was even around.

Genesis 1:1-5Amplified Bible

The Creation

1 In the beginning God ([a]Elohim) [b]created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was [c]formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, [d] “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good (pleasing, useful) and [e]He affirmed and sustained it; and God separated the light [distinguishing it] from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was [f]evening and there was [g]morning, one day.

Crisis of any kind is tough.

Crisis of Leadership in a Crisis is …… never for the faint nor the weak at heart.

“Leadership Vacuum” crises are definitely considered tougher than most.

Who does one turn to for answers when there is no one “standing tall?”

In that Upper Room, the man, Master Rabbi Jesus, is preparing his disciples for the crisis which is about to befall them – His coming crucifixion and his Death.

The disciples must learn who will be in charge in the coming chaos – and it will not be them – after Jesus they must become secure in their connection in God.

He tells them clearly; the coming crisis is unavoidable -it must come for them to move on, it must come so the Holy Spirit should be sent to help them out.

The disciples have to be in a whirlwind of all different manners of thought.

Everything was going very well; life was good and abundant – but in a short span of hours, all that would suddenly come crashing down around them.

All things being equal in one moment, suddenly thrust into inequality.

Going back to the ways things were before Jesus and before his resurrection?

The reality of his resurrection they and nobody else had any concept of?

Why would God allow this?

What would become of all the promises of God, given to them by Jesus?

In the fog of a crisis, it can be hard to see anything good that God might be doing.

Whether your finances are at risk through a job loss, or you have a relationship that’s threatening to implode, or you’re experiencing some other devastating event, it’s heart-breaking to see your world turned upside down.

Eventually you wonder whether God might be punishing you for something.

But the fact is, we often seek to connect with God in our crises in ways that we wouldn’t ordinarily consider.

We are only one short moment from our worst crisis: One rumor of lay-offs or one unexplained result on a medical test or car accident can change everything.

Suddenly being thrust into crisis, suddenly life cannot about us anymore, it must become about something or someone infinitely greater than yourself.

A major crisis can persuade us to do anything, negotiate anything with God.

Except in the end, we must realistically ask ourselves: is that really so bad?

Obviously, reality is crisis and suffering are indescribably, undeniably painful.

But Master Rabbi Jesus’ point in John 15 is that the only way we can thrive in life is by surrendering, being naturally connected to him, like branches to a vine.

That means our lives will still be in a crisis, but they will be made far richer, by being connected to his grace in a crisis, than if we are drifting off on our own.

The point is not that crises aren’t bad; it’s that being connected to Jesus Christ is greater. Sometimes God uses the blinding fog of a crisis to help us find him.

Has he ever done that with you?

When the storms of a life in crisis are raging around you right now ……

Is He, perhaps right in this exact and exacting moment, revealing His Presence?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord God, Author of my Salvation, I look to You right now. Your Word says that You are the door of the sheep. So, Father, we place our trust in You because You will open doors for us that are closed. I pray for Your divine guidance through these doors and thank You for opening them. With You, there is always a way, but alone we will remain stagnant. Thank You for being the eternal door, Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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This is the Burden we each Share: Restoring Yet Respecting. Bearing Without Burdening. Galatians 6:2

Galatians 6:1-3NKJV

Bear and Share Burdens

6 Brethren, if a man is [a]overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The English poet John Donne famously wrote, “No man is an island.”

Whether we are Believers or Non-Believers, we each need to realize something which was very important to Jesus: we are all members of a larger community.

No believer in Christ should think or allow themselves to feel he/she is totally independent of others. No Christian should ever try to think he is on his own.

As in a family, connections, Koinonia fellowship, relationships, in the body of Christ— the church—function best when there’s a deep-felt awareness and a genuine concern for others, even while we are maintaining healthy boundaries.

The common good requires our working together to restore relationships that are broken by sin— and doing so with a spirit of gentleness and self-awareness.

Whatever sin a person is guilty of, we must not boast, “That would never happen to me!” Such pride is inevitably the first step toward a mighty fall.

A humble, gentle inquiry such as “How may I help?” or “How may I pray for you?” can be the beginning toward gaining someone’s confidence without coming across as being disrespectful, over-bearing, intrusive, interfering.

People truly need their privacy, even when being helped in a sinful situation.

Gentle restoration demands respecting the person as being one of God’s most beloved, much cherished image bearers and allowing for their personal privacy.

Different people have different, unique needs in terms of their personal space.

Within established boundaries, healthy and functional relationships allow for our needs. After all, each one of us is unique. And we all have burdens to bear.

What we do with other people’s burdens then, has eternal significance.

First question is this: what do we do with bearing our own burden?

Either we come to Jesus, who has lifted the burden of sin from us, and we start helping others with their burdens or we let other people suffer overmuch under their burdens, and thus indicate that we actually do not know truly Christ at all, in spite of what we may confess.

I fear that sometimes we think and act as if true piety and true religion consists in letting others carry their own burdens until they can bear them no more and then “we just subtly or not so subtly” move in and stay until rescue is achieved.

Especially true when, in our opinion, they are carrying a burden of their own making. We might even think that because someone deserves the weighty burden they are carrying, they absolutely should not have our help to carry it.

But when we think, we believe and we act “vengefully” along these lines, are we really any different from all those Pharisees Rabbi Jesus personally held to an account who loaded people down with burdens that were impossible to carry?

He continually calls out to everyone who is loaded down by their burdens:

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus didn’t say “stay in your homes and suffer alone or as you choose to see fit.

He didn’t say “give yourself your own rest when you are too tired of yourself.”

He didn’t say “you deserve the weight of your burden so LEAVE ME ALONE!”

He said, “Come to me …. any time, every time from any and from every place.”

He said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am truly there in their midst.” Where two or three gather, come together, be available to each other….

Bearing the burden of His image, let us remember then, Jesus lifted the burden from us, as undeserving as we all are.

He lifted our burden through his death on the cross: “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4).

Days are filled with sorrow
Days are filled with sorrow and care
Hearts are lonely and drear
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near ……..

Cast your care on Jesus today,
Leave your worry and fear;
Burdens are lifted at Calvary,
Jesus is very near……..

Troubled soul, the Savior can see
Every heartache and tear
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near ……..

Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Calvary, Calvary
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near
Jesus is very near ………

“Burdens are lifted at Calvary …. Jesus is very Near.” Rev. John M. Moore (1952)

There is truly no better place to learn the law of sacrificial love than bearing His image at the foot of the cross. There is no better person from whom to learn this law than from our Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

There’s no better way to bear His image, display pure religion than to selflessly bear each other’s burdens – gently restoring yet respecting – the undeserving helping the undeserving – for in this way we will truly fulfil the law of Christ.

Yes! Burdens are Lifted at Calvary …..

But where is Calvary?

Just a “two-thousand-year-old place” we cannot see or touch or feel or taste?

Calvary, in these 21st century times and seasons, in the very real sense, is …..

Wherever two or three are Gathered in the name of Jesus Christ – our Savior!

Koinonia! Worshipping and Praising, Confessing, Giving Thanks and Praying!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,    

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father Thank You for always seeing me and my needs and the needs of Your beloved Children. Your Word tells me that When I ask, it will be given to me, and what I seek, I will find. For when I ask of You, I must believe that I will receive it. What I seek shall be found. When I knock, You answer, so Father, I praise You for being the door that is always opened; thank you Father, Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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Lord, When I Look Up at Your Skies, at what Your Fingers have Made, Tell Me, what is Your Purpose for Me? Psalm 8:4

Psalm 8:1-4New American Standard Bible

The Lord’s Glory and Mankind’s Dignity.

For the music director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

8 Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
You who have [a]displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2 From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established [b]strength
Because of Your enemies,
To do away with the enemy and the revengeful.

3 When I [c]consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have set in place;
4 What is man that You think of him,
And a son of man that You are concerned about him?

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

In this psalm the glory of God and the glory of humanity are folded together like the fingers of two hands.

And yet it seems like a mismatch.

What is our fragile existence compared to the majesty of God?

Yet Psalm 8 links the wonder of human existence with divine splendor.

God is pleased to fold his glories into ours to create a unique and wonderful fellowship.

As a boy, I would look up into the heavens on a clear night, through a telescope my father gave me, and we would see an array of uncountable numbers of stars.

If we know our constellations, we can tell where the “Big” and “Little Dipper” are, and we can find the North Star by its brightness – but from how far away?

Do we still follow the Mars Rover Perseverance Launched in 2020?

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

Do we still have the child like curiosity of what the surface of Mars looks like?

Do we still look at the images being sent back?

Aside from what we “see” on the surface of Mars, its rocks, its hills, its craters, its far distant mountains, its further distant horizons and sun rise and sunset.

What else do we see which may not be so obvious to the human eye?

We see the ‘tracks’ of humanity left by the Man-Made Perseverance Rover!

Yet, we have yet to actually put human feet to Martian soil.

But we have that curiosity – what does it look like?

But we have that curiosity – what would it feel like to be the first to step on it?

But we have that curiosity – what would it feel like to hold soil in our hands?

But we have that curiosity to keep right on trying, overcome the technological obstacles in our path which keeps us from answering those questions I asked.

We have that insatiable drive to overcome the enormous challenges, to invent the non-existent technology which would be needed to truly set foot on Mars.

Probably not in our generation – maybe not in the next two or three or four, but it is inevitable that one day humanity will launch that Manned Space Craft like it did in July 1969 – the Apollo 11 Moon walk by Late Astronaut, Neil Armstrong.

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html

Psalm 8:1-5Complete Jewish Bible

8 (0) For the leader. On the gittit. A psalm of David:

2 (1) Adonai! Our Lord! How glorious
is your name throughout the earth!
The fame of your majesty
spreads even above the heavens!

3 (2) From the mouths of babies and infants at the breast
you established strength because of your foes,
in order that you might silence
the enemy and the avenger.

4 (3) When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and stars that you set in place —
5 (4) what are mere mortals, that you concern yourself with them;
humans, that you watch over them with such care?

The psalmist tells us that God, the Creator and Author of our humanity, is mindful of our human tracks, as faint as they may seem in the universe.

Between the infinite abyss of outer space and the quanta of subatomic particles are the very unique and singular personal prints of life made in God’s image.

Heaven zooms in on this track, for it holds the undeniable promise of a glorious communion with its Author and its Creator and its Maintainer and its Sustainer.

Put yourself in David’s place on that singular night which he craned his neck up, whether it was from his perspective as a shepherd or viewpoint of a King.

How big was the Moon that night he penned that verse?

Against the backdrop of that Moon,

How many stars did he count before he simply gave up trying to count them all.

Until God finally reached His own point of connection, a time of quiet, intimate, contemplative relationship deep inside David’s soul – and we have Psalms 8?

No matter how plain your life may seem, your Creator wants to weave his own vision of His own handwork deep into yours – as Deep as He reached David’s.

Nowadays, just what keeps us and our children from reaching those “depths?”

An insatiable “Lack of Curiosity?”

An insatiable “Lack of Faith?”

An insatiable “Lack of Hope?”

An insatiable “Lack of Love?”

An insatiable “Lack of Perseverance?”

An insatiable “Lack of God, the Father, God the Son and God, the Holy Spirit?”

Psalm 8:1-4The Message

8 God, brilliant Lord,
    yours is a household name.

2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
    toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
    and silence atheist babble.

3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
    your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
    Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
    Why take a second look our way?

God the Father, on the other hand, always has us on his mind.

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them . . . ?”

Though we don’t often act like it, we humans are at the top of creation’s glory.

“God created mankind in his own image . . . male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).

But then their sin scarred his image in them.

It wasn’t obliterated, but it was definitely blurred in an indescribable manner.

Yet every­ image bearing child reveals more of God’s glory.

Creation bears God’s fingerprints; we bear his very likeness.

The psalmist’s question is profoundly humbling and wondrously uplifting: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them . . .?”

We are each made in the image of God.

And though the rebellion of sin reverberates in our daily lives, God still sees his likeness in us.

His Son came to redeem and restore us.

We are “growing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).

What a blessing it is that God is mindful of his image bearers!

What a blessing it is to know his image bearers have a fruitful purpose!

Look up into the heavens as David did that night – what is your purpose?

Contemplate and Meditate upon the Future which God has in store for us!

It does not matter at what stage of life you find yourself in this exact moment.

Become insatiably curious for witnessing God handiworks in that future!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

You, O Lord, are more wonderful than our lips can proclaim!
When we look up, consider the awesome works of your hands,
Your .01% consideration, love for us is more than amazing!
You have actually trusted us with the whole of the earth,
And put everything we see under the care of our hands.
Lord, O Sovereign Lord, the earth is filled with your glory!

Lord God,

Mere words are not enough to express Your awesomeness,

Your majesty, Your holiness.

Our highest expressions of theology are but baby talk next to You:

Your creation, Your very self.

Make us insatiably curious and aware, through Your Holy Spirit,

that You are absolutely in heaven’s fullness and here among us.

May this awareness lead us to approach this hour more carefully.

The words we speak, the tunes we sing, the worship we bring,

the thoughts we think, the joy and sadness we feel, the life we live,

may these be an aroma ultimately pleasing to You.

For in spite of the inadequacy of our words,

this humble and incomplete expression of worship is addressed to You.

Make it complete, whole, full to overflowing,

O God, our rock, our strength and our redeemer.

In Savior Christ’s name we pray. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Divine Ability for Human Necessity.

Proverbs 19:20-21 Common English Bible

20 Listen to advice and accept instruction,
    so you might grow wise in the future.
21 Many plans are in a person’s mind,
    but the Lord’s purpose will succeed.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

A “human’s heart” is a little world, full of Dreaming, scheming, and planning.

We are always in the business of devising – we naturally call it “progress.”

There is always a “Plan A” and a “Plan” for every letter of the human Alphabet.

It does not matter what language you speak, or how many letters in your own alphabet you have which comprises your native languages or cultural dialects.

To every device of all human hearts, God’s “counsel,” His own personal design, exists parallel, whether in coincidence or in opposition to our own.

In other words,

respecting the object of every human device, God has His own divine design.

Amidst all these various human devices, there is one divine which will prevail.

God is the supreme Ruler over this universe He created.

His plan affects every detail of this creation.

This plan is eternal, and there never was, nor ever will be, another plan.

God’s complete control over His creation is based on His omniscience and omnipotence.

Since God has knowledge of all things actual and possible, His eternal plan is not based upon blind choice.

Instead, God has wisely chosen a plan in which all details will finally work together to bring about the greatest good.

Not only has God chosen the best possible plan; He also has the power and authority to bring it about.

When God promises to do something, there is no question that it will be done.

Think about it like this ….

Every manufacturer designs his product with the right components, engineered to fulfill the function that the product is created to perform.

In essence, the purpose of the product dictates the potential required to fulfill the manufacturer’s intent.

This principle holds true for all creation, including human beings.

This means the nature, design, and qualities of human beings were decided by God and created by him according to what he determined was best for the sake of his own divine purpose.

Every command in the Bible is proof of the reality of human responsibility from God’s perspective.

God is the divine Potter who has the “absolute right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use” according to His own purpose (Romans 9:21).

Yet this “clay” has a will and is responsible for the choices it freely makes. (Read Jeremiah. 18:1-12 to see how the prophet subtly intertwines both of these concepts.)

God is a God of purpose.

Everything in life has a purpose.

Every human being entered into the earth realm with a God-given purpose.

Purpose is the reason for the creation.

In essence, it is the reason why a thing exists.

When God created humanity, He had two overarching purpose in mind: relation and vacation.

The first purpose is God’s personal reason for creating us for relationship with Himself.

The second is His executive reason for creating us for the lifework He designed us to carry out for Him on the earth.

Since we were born with a God-given purpose and fulfilling that purpose must be our primary mission in life.

Our fulfillment, satisfaction and peace of mind are all tied to that purpose.

God created us with a “Plan A” purpose in mind for our life and it’s our responsibility to find it.

The secret to accomplishing great things is simple: Find and pursue the kind of work you are meant to do—your “purpose.”

Purpose can add not only years to your life but life to your years.

Prior to your birth, God installed in you all of the necessary gifts, talents and abilities you would need to fulfill his purpose for your life.

Those gifts, talents and abilities help define your purpose. For E.g., a bird was created by God to fly. If it does not fly, then it has not fulfilled its purpose.

Without a purpose, life is an experiment or a chaotic journey that results in frustration, disappointment and failure.

In absence of purpose,

time has no meaning; energy has no reason and when we do not know our reason for existence, we are just wandering, wasting valuable time.

Without purpose, we can only exist.

Thus, to know our purpose is to know our significance, to know our significance is to know our direction, to know our direction is to know our Destiny.

Purpose is the end for which the means exist.

So, we must realize that our fulfillment in this life is dependent on our becoming and doing what we were born to be and do.

If you want to know your God-given purpose, you must know and be in bond with your maker, (Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:7).

When the Lord God created us, He gave each of us an instruction manual.

It is called the Bible – the Written Word of God.

It Says in Proverbs 19:21 “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.”

Therefore, God’s purpose is more important than our plans and His purpose will precede our plan.

Therefore, we should seek to have our plans in principle compatible with God’s counsel.

The original purpose for mankind, defined and established by God in Genesis 1, was to “rule (have dominion) over all the earth.”

Since the word “dominion” in this case means to reign and rule, the Creator wired all humans with the capacity and natural ability to lead.

God created people to reflect His image, to rule over creation, and to reproduce godly offspring.

We can conclude that human beings are wired for leadership.

There is no finer example for leadership than Lord Jesus Christ.

He declared, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

It is within this verse that we see the perfect description of a great leader. He is one who acts as a shepherd to those “sheep” in his care.

Good leadership is always obvious by honorable character and selfless service to the society.

Jesus had confidence in His God-given purpose.

We read about this in the gospel of Luke 4:18- 21 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And He began to say to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus was never off purpose; He always knew what He was doing because He always knew why He was doing it. So, he said “I am the good shepherd…”

The shepherd is one who has several roles in regard to his sheep.

He cares, leads, feeds, nurtures, comforts, corrects and protects.

The shepherd of the Lord’s flock leads by modeling godliness and righteousness in his own life and encouraging others to follow his example.

Hence, our ultimate example—and the One we should follow—is Christ Himself.

This is why Apostle Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

A good leader guides, corrects and disciplines those in his care when they go astray.

Without resentment or an overbearing spirit, but with a “spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:2)

The leaders we remember most, in history or our own past, are the ones, who have inspired or empowered us.

The word inspire comes from the Latin, meaning “to breathe life into.”

Accordingly, when you are working toward things that inspire you, it literally makes you feel more alive.

The reason these leaders are memorable is because they have a sense of their own purpose.

Our purpose is the foundation of our leadership and life.

“Plan A” gives us the stability to stand, because when the tough times come (and they do) and the ground underneath begin to shake (and it will) it is His “Plan A” which becomes our overarching sense of purpose that keeps us firm.

Keep in mind, your existence is evidence that this generation, of which you are a part, needs something that your life contains.

Leadership is a ministry, not mere management.

It is a position of humble, loving, caring service.

Those whom God designates as leaders are called not to be governing monarchs, but humble servants, not professional celebrities, but laboring servants.

Those who would lead God’s people must above all exemplify sacrifice, devotion, submission, and lowliness.

Jesus Himself gave us the pattern when He stooped to wash His disciples’ feet, a task that was customarily done by the lowest of slaves (John 13).

If the Lord of the Creation would give literally everything up, submit Himself to do that, then no leader has a right to think of himself as a VIP.”

At the most basic level, a servant leader is someone who leads others by example.

Good leaders develop through a never-ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience.

Our quality of life depends on the quality of our leaders.

And since no one else seems to be volunteering, it’s up to each one of us.

If you have ever had those “lifelong” dreams of leadership, now is the time.

God needs you. Now you must proceed to unearth the leader hidden within you.

What is leadership?

At the most basic level, a leader is someone who leads others.

It is a process by which one person influences the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of others.

Leaders set a direction for the rest of us; they help us see what lies ahead; they help us visualize what we might achieve; they encourage us and inspire us.

Without humble direction and leadership of human beings quickly degenerates into argument and conflict, because we will each inevitably see one too many things in one too many different ways and will lean toward different solutions.

Leadership helps to point us in the same direction and harness our efforts jointly.

Leadership is the ability to get other people to do something significant that they might not otherwise do.

It’s energizing people toward a goal.

Leadership is the act of influencing/serving others out of Christ’s interests in their lives, so they accomplish God’s purposes for and through them.

Influence comes from serving by modeling, instructing, exhorting, evaluating, confronting, training, and releasing, Influence does not come by overpowering, belittling, manipulating, threatening, avoiding, competing and controlling

The Bible is the first place we should look to in order to learn how to become leaders today, preparing for the world tomorrow.

The biblical record reveals God’s demand for quality leaders during times of human crisis.

His search for effective leadership is expressed in statements such as:

“The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people…” (I Samuel 13:14).

This scripture reveals that whenever an organization has a lack of quality, legitimate and just leaders, national deterioration occurs.

It also reveals that God’s remedy to this type of situation is the discovery and rising up of new leaders committed to justice and righteousness.

From page 1 of the Bible, we are put on notice that God holds us accountable for the moral choices and actions we make.

This is why the wise teacher wrote, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

“God is absolutely sovereign, but his sovereignty never functions in such a way that human responsibility is minimized or mitigated” (see Ephesians 1:11, Acts 17:26, Matthew 6:26, Proverbs 21:1, Jeremiah 10:23).

God will never do anything contrary His character and purpose.

He will not deceive, being of infinite goodness; He cannot be deceived by any, being of infinite wisdom.

There is no room for second thoughts or after-counsels.

Scripture teaches that “God is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.

A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (Deuteronomy 32:4).

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

God also “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).

God holds all people accountable for their deeds (Rom. 2:4-9; Rev. 20:15-20).

Scripture consistently appeals to humans in a way that recognizes their moral responsibility for the choices they make (Joshua. 24:15; I Kings 18:21; Romans 1:21-28; Jn. 11:26; Acts 7:51; 17:30).

God is able to do anything He desires. “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).

“He does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the ocean depths” (Psalms 135:6).

The Lord carries out everything exactly as planned.

“God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not establish it?” (Numbers 23:19).

All that God has preplanned is as good as done.

Nothing can change it, for there is no authority above God.

As He says through Isaiah, “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?” (40:25).

God directs the history of the universe along the course of His foreordained plan.

This involves His ability to choose individuals and groups for special purposes in the outworking of this plan.

For instance, Jeremiah and Paul were chosen by God to have special missions even before they were formed in their mother’s wombs (Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians. 1:15).

Because of His complete uniqueness and sovereignty, God is able to declare,

“Truly I am God, I have no peer; I am God, and there is none like me, who announces the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand what has not yet occurred, who says, ‘My plan will be realized; I will accomplish what I desire ….’’’ (Isaiah. 46:9-10; see also Isaiah. 14:24; 43:13).

Proverbs 19:21 is a good word, isn’t it?

Like many are the plans in the mind of a man.

You think about all the plans you and I have come up with at different points in our lives, we’re like we’re going to do this, we’re going to do that.

Like the plans of our mind come and go. They vary, they shift.

We think about some plans we’ve made that we thought were the greatest thing in the world.

Like if only this could happen and then they actually did happen, and we realized that wasn’t the greatest thing in the world.

That actually wants helpful at all.

So, our plans created by our finite minds are often times, let’s be honest, foolish minds and I don’t mean that to sound overly negative but just to be real.

Like, we often make foolish plans because we don’t have all the knowledge, we do not have all perspective.

We make plans, we don’t realize how it’s going to affect this person or that person.

We make plans for our lives that we don’t realize it’s going to lead to this or that.

And so, in the end we make some foolish plans.

It is good to know that, like Proverbs 19:21 says, it’s the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

That God’s purpose, he doesn’t flounder, he has all the knowledge, he has all perspective, he never has done or will do anything foolish. Never. He’s all wise.

It’s good to know that it’s only the purpose of all wise God that will stand.

So does not that lead us then to pray, in the name of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit today and just submit our plans to his purpose.

To pray oh God, you are all wise, you are all good, everything you do is good, and your purposes will be accomplished.

And we are so thankful for that.

We are so thankful because your purpose is good, it is good because it brings you glory and it is good because by your grace, it’s good for us.

Oh God, we praise you.

We praise Your “Plan A!”

We thank you for Your “Plan A!”

We reach for Your “Plan A!”

We long to hug and embrace Your “Plan A!” exactly as our Savior Jesus did.

That your purpose involves the salvation of sinners for the glory of your name.

That your purpose God, is to save sinners like me, like others who are listening to this by the cross of Christ that we might be reconciled to you, that we might live in steadfast relationship with you that will last forever, for eternal life. We are so thankful that, that it is thy divine purpose alone which will stand always.

Proverbs 19:21 Reminds Us to Submit to The Plans of The God of all Created Things.

So, Creator God we yield our plans to you today, we lay our plans down upon thy Altar, and we pray have your way. Have your way in our lives, have your way in our families, have your way in our churches, have your way with us we pray. 

Lead us, guide us, direct us according to your purposes, not our plans. And as we make plans which we need to do and comes to this or that in our lives, please, please, please help us to yield our plans continually to you. And to make our plans in accordance with our purpose, in alignment with your purpose alone.

Help us to plan for the spread of your glory in the world. Help us to plan for the spread of your gospel in others’ lives. Help us to plan for your love, your mercy, your grace through made known through whatever plans we make. Because we know this is ultimately your purpose. Because we want our plans ultimately to fulfill your purpose that will stand. So, we pray yielding our plans to you for the accomplishment of your purpose in our lives, in our Savior Jesus name. Amen.

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Hope in the Lord! Be Strong! Let Your Heart take Courage! Let Your Heart be Strengthened! Keep in Step with God. Psalm 27:14

Psalm 27:14Amplified Bible

14 
Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Sitting in our rocking chair on our front porch on a sunny day.

Sitting in our rocking chair under our covered front porch on a rainy day.

Sitting in our recliners, watching television, doing crosswords or Sudoku.

Sitting in our Doctor’s offices or in an Urgent Care setting or Emergency Room.

Sitting in some waiting room waiting for some report on our loved one’s health.

Sitting outside Pastor’s office – the report was not what we were waiting for.

Sitting in our Pastor’s office – the report was not what we were hoping for.

Waiting …. and waiting …… and waiting some more …… for who knows what.

Reasonable …… Unreasonable Expectation we will all be …… for some reason(s)

Patient in our afflictions.

Patient in our sufferings.

Patient in our Patience.

Demonstrating sound Christian Principles …..

Modeling those Sound, Disciplined, Expected, Christ-Like Christian Behaviors,

Patient hope.

Patient perseverance.

Patient endurance.

Patient Patience …..

as we wait for the Lord to work in the difficult circumstances of our fragile life.

Such an “I’ll try to hold myself together for as long as I am strong enough, until God arrives” exhibition encourages someone’s faith in God to be strengthened.

Conversely, as one’s faith is often tested in those long and painful seasons of life, when patient endurance is called upon as we trustingly wait for the Lord to act, submissively waiting on the Lord’s promises to be fulfilled in prayer, and praise, and thanksgiving, we actually wait not with patience – but impatience.

The reality of it all is more like – “the Lord God should have been here an hour before anything, and literally everything, went awry a hundred different ways.”

It is absolutely correct to believe that Patience is a “fruit of the Holy Spirit” –

“I just wish God had given me all of His before things suddenly just flew apart.”

There always seems to be that “I got this thing under control gap” between what is communicated to us in the Word of God for His Children and reality.

When reality hits us square in the face – and it definitely will hit us somewhere, then the lessons of Scripture, somehow seem to end up in that somewhere else.

Yes! We need to confidently wait for the Lord to act on our behalf, knowing that His promises are ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ in Christ Jesus, and we all definitely need to faithfully wait upon the Lord with His psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, making music to the Lord in our praying hearts, with thanksgiving and praise.

But we first need to discipline ourselves to actually: “Wait Upon the Lord!”

Somehow, stop ourselves from taking that one more step into our distresses!

Get a grip on ourselves …..

Look out into the world …… what is the world offering you in this moment?

Look upward unto the hills from whence cometh our help …… (Psalm 121 NIV)

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

Both now and forevermore …..

Look upwards unto the Heavens …. from where our help actually did come from.

John 14:1-3 NIV

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

When we are in step with the Holy Scriptures, when we are quieting ourselves, when we are sitting on a bench, walking in step with Christ, abiding in Christ, waiting for Christ, our inner heart is empowered, and our courage is enlarged.

When we turn our eyes upward instead of focusing outward, we are waiting for His quiet and quieting presence, resting in His love, our soul is strengthened by the Spirit of the Lord, for His strength is made perfect in our restful weakness.

When we take all of God at His Word and trust Him unquestioningly, despite our inner fleshly nature and outer distressing circumstances which scream at us to do something, we will be enabled, from within, to wait on the LORD and be of good courage. For we have been promised that He shall strengthen our heart.

The Lord has His own way of restoring us unto Him the Joy of our Salvation!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, too often my old sin nature calls upon me to take hold of the reins of my life instead of waiting, abiding in You and resting in Your promises. Help me to learn to wait on You alone and to be of good courage, knowing that You are in perfect control of my life and all I am called upon to do is to quietly wait for You to act on my behalf and to confidently wait on You with prayer and worship and a heart of blest and blessed thanksgiving and praise. In Jesus’ name, Gloria! Alleluia! AMEN.

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Our Covenant Obligation: Our Sabbath Rest, Sabbath Reset. Redeeming our Time with the Only God of our Shalom. Exodus 20:8-11

Exodus 20:8-11Amplified Bible

8 “Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God). 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Just look up at the stars and think about our Creator who knows each and every one of us by name and how much more He knows ME and knows YOU by name, knows EXACTLY what situation we are facing. Our way is not hidden from God.

Just as an entire body of any of the world’s ocean cannot be seen in a bay, or when looked at from a horizon, there is a vastness to God that cannot even be seen in the incarnation of Jesus. He was limited in time and space, but not God.

God is still ever alert, seated on his throne, and we can trust in His sovereignty.

He does not slumber, nor does He sleep, He will always act at the proper time.

Such a magnificent view of God is essential for great hope and great energy.

Humanity’s physical and mental fatigue have a deeper cause in a tired spirit.

Frustrations and dashed hopes mean we need to lift our eyes unto the Hills and the Heavens and change our focus to an everlasting God who never grows tired.

He gifts, He gives, His strength to the weary, increases the power of the weak.

Sometimes we must rest and sometimes we must reset ourselves, so we have the strength, alertness to lift up our heads unto the hills to see our Salvation.

We must mentally and physically “take a deep breath or two” wait upon and wait for the Lord to intervene, then He raises us up as on the wings of an eagle again and we can continue effortlessly propelled by the spirit of the living God.

Eagles will lock their wings in a storm and allow the strong winds to lift them and they soar above the storm. That is exactly what God will do for us when we “lock our wings,” rest and reset, simply trust him during our “busy” of living.

God made the Eagle ….

God made You ….

God made Me ….

God made My Wife

God gave me My Wife to love, cherish, care for “as unto the Lord, my God!”

Sometimes we just need to rest, reset and redeem the time God is gifted to us.

We have a Covenant Obligation to Remember the Sabbath and Keep it Holy.

But we cannot do that if we try too hard to be “perpetual motion” Christians, loving and serving the Lord our God and our neighbors in His Neighborhood.

The Great Commandment is to not just Love God and our Neighbors with all of our might, all of our hearts and souls and minds – but to LOVE OURSELVES too in the same zealous manner we love and serve the One God who is our Salvation.

So, after 295 consecutive days of studying, praying writing these devotions as my act of obedience to my Creator and my Redeemer, it is time to rest and reset.

My wife and I have not had a time and season to be “set apart, to spend with our God,” any vacation, since the Pandemic began and two plus years prior to that.

So, we will be taking the next two weeks or so to rest, refresh our love for each other and God and reset, redeem our time with our Savior upon the High Seas.

Exodus 20:8-11Amplified Bible

8 “Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God). 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

Our reading from the Hebrew Testament today states that “in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth … but he rested on the seventh day.”

The ambition and creativity we bring to our love of God and our labors in God’s Neighborhood is a reflection of our Creator’s. love and labors on our behalf.

It’s part of how we live out our covenant obligations, reflect his image and a big part of how we “tirelessly” try to minister, “tirelessly” serve as HIS witnesses.

God also rested on the seventh day, however, and he calls us to do the same.

For us, good work hinges on good rest.

Without rest, our love, our labors, our work in Ministry and Mission slows.

That is why, from time to time, Holy Spirit “hits our “rest and reset” buttons.

A divine reminder: Our obedience to our Covenant Obligation to Ministry and Mission, our discipline of a ‘regular rest and reset’ becomes our witness in our fast-paced world, especially when that time is focused on enjoying our Creator.

It speaks of God’s love to command what’s good for us.

Our zealous, over-zealous, attention to our (over) ambitious, ambitions would risk hindering, distract us from him and drive us into the ground if we let them.

How will you live out your Covenant Obligation to “rest and reset and redeem?”

How will you rest and reset and redeem your time this week and this weekend?

For the sake of good work later, let’s rest.

For the sake of good works of Ministry and Mission later, please rest and reset.

For the sake of our own SHALOM’s, please ‘rest, reset and redeem’ God’s time.

For the sake of sanity, let’s rest. For the sake of glory to God in regular worship and fellowship, let’s rest, reset. God blesses those who “work hard” at resting.

Let’s trust him to establish our work, give rest to our hearts, reset to our souls.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 90Amplified Bible

Book Four

God’s Eternity and Man’s Transitoriness.

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

90 Lord, You have been our dwelling place [our refuge, our sanctuary, our stability] in all generations.
2 
Before the mountains were born
Or before You had given birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are [the eternal] God.

3 
You turn man back to dust,
And say, “Return [to the earth], O children of [mortal] men!”
4 
For a [a]thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
Or as a watch in the night.
5 
You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep [forgotten as soon as they are gone];
In the morning they are like grass which grows anew—
6 
In the morning it flourishes and springs up;
In the evening it wilts and withers away.

7 
For we have been consumed by Your anger
And by Your wrath we have been terrified.
8 
You have placed our wickedness before you,
Our secret sins [which we tried to conceal, You have placed] in the [revealing] light of Your presence.
9 
For all our days pass away in Your wrath;
We have finished our years like a whispered sigh.
10 
The days of our life are [b]seventy years—
Or even, if because of strength, eighty years;
Yet their pride [in additional years] is only labor and sorrow,
For it is soon gone and we fly away.
11 
Who understands the power of Your anger? [Who connects this brevity of life among us with Your judgment of sin?]
And Your wrath, [who connects it] with the [reverent] fear that is due You?
12 
So teach us to number our days,
That we may cultivate and bring to You a heart of wisdom.

13 
Turn, O Lord [from Your fierce anger]; how long will it be?
Be compassionate toward Your servants—revoke Your sentence.
14 
O satisfy us with Your lovingkindness in the morning [now, before we grow older],
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 
Make us glad in proportion to the days You have afflicted us,
And the years we have suffered evil.
16 
Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to Your servants
And Your [glorious] majesty to their children.
17 
And let the [gracious] favor of the Lord our God be on us;
Confirm for us the work of our hands—
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Gloria! Gloria! Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen!

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Is Jesus Influencing, Making, Any Measure of Difference in our Life? Colossians 1:1 – 8

Colossians 1:1-8Amplified Bible

Thankfulness for Spiritual Attainments

1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed) by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the [a]saints and faithful [b]believers in Christ [who are] at Colossae: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father.

3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] [c]love which you have for all the saints (God’s people); 5 because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] 6 which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it]. 7 You learned it from [our representative] Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf 8 and he also has told us of your love [well-grounded and nurtured] in the [Holy] Spirit.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Today we are going to examine some important questions.

Is Jesus making a difference in your life?

Does Jesus have any degree or meaningful measure of influence over your life

The answer to this question is important because the answer to this question will tell us where we are at with Jesus and just how important He really is to us.

This devotional message is not intended to beat anyone down; it is meant to “stop our world from spinning off into the depths of “who knows where and why and when,” to challenge us to soar to greater heights with our great God.

How many times have we seen a person in athletics not reach their potential?

The NFL is getting ready to kick off its 2022 season.

Each of the teams started training camp with 90 players on their roster.

Now, before the season starts next Sunday, teams must get down to a roster of 53 players who “made the team by their efforts to meet “what it takes to win.”

That means that a whole lot of players of all experience levels will not be on the playing field – they “did not reach their potential, did not make the teams cut.”

How many times have we seen students of all ages go through their schooling and never reaching their potential?

It is a sad experience to read of the scandals of students just being “passed.”

Parents, Educators and Teachers and Coaches losing influence over that child’s life and witnessing then the growing and maturing influence of the “streets.”

Belonging to “families” becomes belonging to “drugs, guns and street gangs.”

It is a sad sight to see isn’t it.

People around them whisper about the waste of talent and potential they see.

• I believe the 21st century church is at a critical crossroads; this church is at a crossroads.

Individually, we must all decide how much we are going to let Jesus be our Lord, we all have to determine if we are going to totally give ourselves over to Him or are we just going to barely influence, scratch the surface, to be happy with that.

Corporately, we must all decide how much and IF and HOW and WHEN and WHY we are going to let Jesus be our only INFLUENCER our ONLY SAVIOR.

• Where we are at with Jesus is where the church will be at with Jesus.

Are we going to be “Christian?

Are we going to be a church that is absolutely sold-out on Jesus or are we going to be a church that is happy with scratching the surface of what GOD can do?

• I hope that as we delve into, through the book of Colossians, we will all learn something, some things that will help to challenge us to go deeper with Jesus.

Apostle Paul is writing this letter to a church that is struggling with some false teachings that were prevalent at the time.

This letter is written with three major purposes in mind;

these purposes are still absolutely valid today.

o To encourage the readers not to go back to their former way of life.

o To direct the people’s attention to Jesus and to get them to fully trust and worship Him and to fully recognize who He is.

o To emphasize the influence and virtue of Christ’s forgiveness and kindness.

Today we are going to look at four indicators that prayerfully will tell us if we are letting Jesus be our primary influencer, the primary difference in our lives.

Colossians 1:1-8New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Salutation

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.[a]

Paul Thanks God for the Colossians

3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the[b] Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel 6 that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God. 7 This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on our[c] behalf, 8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

I. IS JESUS THE CENTER OF YOUR FAITH?

I love the way this letter starts out.

It starts with the Apostle Paul in verse 2 saying that he is writing to the FAITHFUL brethren at Colossae.

Then he moves to telling the readers he is thankful for them and that he is praying for them always.

• Then he moves to what he is thankful for.

• He is thankful that he has heard of their faith in Jesus.

• When you think about it, this is an impressive statement.

The faith of the Church at Colossae is so great that it is known all around.

• Notice too that their faith is in Jesus; it is centered and based on Him.

• Their faith in Jesus made such an impact on the lives of those in the church that they gained a reputation for their faith.

• I wonder what people would say about the church as they walked around Colossae.

• I wonder what people say about the 21st century Christian Church when the subject comes up?

What are we known for?

If culture is the primary influencer, making the difference in our lives ….

• If Jesus is the primary influencer, making the difference in our lives,

will we then be known for our faith in our Master Rabbi, and Savior Jesus?

• The only way that our Master Rabbi Jesus, our Lord and Savior Jesus will be our influencer, the difference in our lives is if we have an undying faith in Him.

• I have seen too many people over the years play the church game.

We can get so caught up in things to the point that Jesus is not really the center of our faith.

For many the center of their faith is the status quo, it is their jobs, family or entertainment.

• Paul was not thankful for the church at Colossae because they had a really nice and diverse, inclusive, influential, politically correct and welcoming building.

He was not faithful because they sang a certain type of music or had a certain order of service, he was thankful for them in part because of their faith in Jesus!

• Faith means in part to trust.

Who do you trust?

Into whose hands do we really put your salvation?

Who do you turn to in times of trouble?

Who do you give the glory to when things go well?

• If Jesus is the center of your faith, your life will be different.

I hope that our church is known for our faith.

That will not ever happen unless two things happen.

First, our faith has to be evident in our lives and secondly, we need to be involved in the lives of other people so they can see our faith in action.

II. IS YOUR LOVE FOR THE BRETHREN EVIDENT?

The second thing Paul is thankful for is the love the church had for the brethren and for all the Saints (Christians)!

• Is Jesus making a difference in your life?

If He is, He will be the center of your faith.

The fact will manifest itself in how much love you have for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

• We have talked a lot about love in the past and we will continue to do it in the future.

This is an important issue.

IF you cannot love the most unlovely of us, then Jesus in not exerting any meaningful influence or making any measurable difference in your life.

• Jesus loved Judas?

He had plenty of reasons not to, but He did.

What is your excuse for NOT loving Judas?

• We cannot ask lost people to come in and love those we will not love.

If Jesus is influencing you, making a difference in your life, it will show by how you are able to love ALL of the brethren – WITHOUT EVEN ONE EXCEPTION!

1 John 2:9-11New American Standard Bible

9 The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling. 11 But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

We can say how much we love Jesus all we want, tell Him how sold out we are to Him all we want, but if we do not love one another, they are empty statements.

• If Jesus is making a difference on our life, we will love the brethren!

III DOES YOUR FAITH REST IN YOUR HOPE IN HEAVEN?

• In verse 5 we find out why and how the Christians at Colossae had such a great faith.

5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel

• Their hope was focused on what was laid out for them in heaven.

• If Jesus is making a difference in your life, you will be able to realize there is a big picture.

You will not want to get even or take vengeance on every injustice done to you.

• Paul is thankful for their hope; faith and hope are always tied together.

Faith is based in hope.

• There has to be a pot of gold if you will at the end of the rainbow.

1 Peter 1:4-5GOD’S WORD Translation

4 We have been born into a new life which has an inheritance that cannot be destroyed or corrupted and can’t fade away. That inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 since you are guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

If we have no hope of heaven, then we will not be able to persevere when we need to.

The things of the world will look too attractive to pass up if our faith does not rest in hope.

• One of the blessings of hope is it allows us to sacrifice the present on the altar of the future (Reverend Dr. John MacArthur Jr.)

• That runs contrary to human nature.

Young children, for example, have a difficult time waiting for something they want.

The world wants it and wants it now.

• The Christian has a different perspective.

He is willing to forsake the present glory, comfort, and satisfaction of this present world for the future glory that is his in Christ.

In contrast to the “buy now—pay later” attitude prevalent in the world, the Christian is willing to pay now and receive it later.

What makes Christians willing to make such sacrifices?

Hope, based on faith the future holds something far better than the present.

Romans 8:18-21GOD’S WORD Translation

God’s Spirit Helps Us

18 I consider our present sufferings insignificant compared to the glory that will soon be revealed to us. 19 All creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal who his children are. 20 Creation was subjected to frustration but not by its own choice. The one who subjected it to frustration did so in the hope 21 that it would also be set free from slavery to decay in order to share the glorious freedom that the children of God will have.

If Jesus is influencing, is making a difference in our life, our hope in the future will truly allow us to sacrifice the present things for the future gain of heaven!

IV. IS GOD’S WORD PENETRATING YOUR LIFE?

5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel

• Where did they get this hope, faith, and love?

Look at verse 5, they heard the word of truth, the gospel.

• They did not get their faith, hope, and love from the bottom of a cereal or Cracker Jack box; they believed it because they heard the word of God!

Romans 10:15-17New American Standard Bible

15 But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who [a]bring good news of good things!”

16 However, they did not all heed the [b]good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word [c]of Christ.

CONSTANTLY BEARING FRUIT

• Wherever the gospel seed is sown, fruit grows. If the gospel has penetrated your life, your life will be fruitful for God. The fruit production will never stop.

• I absolutely love strawberries!

Every summer, a farmer plants acres and acres of strawberry plants and every year I can remember from my youth I can remember the farmer said they would get so many strawberries off them throughout the season we would get sick.

• With the strawberry plant, there would come a season when it would quit producing fruit.

For the one who has had the gospel penetrate their life, they will produce fruit in every season of life!

• Paul says for those at Colossae, that the Word has been bearing fruit from the day they heard and understood the word!

• Maybe some are not producing fruit because they are do not understand the Gospel Word.

The more you read it, eat it, the more understandable it becomes!  

Psalm 34:8-10New American Standard Bible

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
9 Fear the Lord, you His saints;
For to those who fear Him there is no lack of anything.
10 The young lions do without and suffer hunger;
But they who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing.

CONSTANTLY INCREASING

• Not only will our lives produce fruit, but it will be in the increase all the time! As you grow and mature, you WILL produce more and more fruit for God!

• The spiritual growth of individuals will lead to new converts being won to Christ.

That was the easily observable pattern of the early church. (Acts 2:43-47)

Acts 9:31New American Standard Bible

31 So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria [a]enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it [b]continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.

You do not need some fancy program in order to grow; you need Jesus to make a difference in the lives of each one of us in the church!

• Part of the reason a church stops’ growing is because individuals within that church stop growing!

• If Jesus is making a difference in your life, the word of God will be penetrating your life and you will produce fruit for Him.

• Are you withering in the vine or are you feeding yourself with the Word daily?

V. ARE YOU AN EPAPHRAS?

5 because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] 6 which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it]. 7 You learned it from [our representative] Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf

We do not know a lot about Epaphras except for the couple of times Paul mentions him in the letter and once in Philemon.

• He is called a fellow bondservant who is a faithful bondservant.

He was most likely an evangelist.

• Notice in verse 7 we are told they learned the gospel from Epaphras! He was producing fruit. He was not going to leave it to someone else to teach people.

• You cannot teach what you do not know, and you cannot know what you do not study!

We are told in Colossians 4:12 that he was one who labored hard for Jesus.

• If you were mentioned in the Bible, what would Paul say about you?

• I hope we could all strive to be like Epaphras.

He was most likely nothing special; he was just willing to let God use Him!

• If Jesus is making a difference in your life, you will be a changed person!

Colossians 1:4-6Amplified Bible

4 for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] [a]love which you have for all the saints (God’s people); 5 because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] 6 which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it].

It’s wonderful when someone comes into the kingdom of God.

That person receives God’s gift of grace through faith in Jesus, and they begin a new life of walking with the Holy Spirit.

The new believer realizes that their old life of selfish pursuits offers nothing that will ever satisfy.

They have turned their back on the darkness and are enjoying the light of the world, Jesus.

Praise God for his love!

Paul is filled with thanks to hear that the people of Colossae have come to faith in Christ Jesus and are showing their love for all God’s people.

He even says, “We always thank God . . . when we pray for you . . .”

They have become wonderful examples of living by faith in Jesus.

They believe and trust, they love, and they hope in what God has already stored up in heaven for them.

Drawing all this together, we can say with Paul that the faith of the Colossian believers is rooted in Jesus Christ.

Friends, my prayer is you will have faith in Christ Jesus; my hope for you is that in Jesus’ name you are loving others, giving yourself up for them, and growing in hope in all that God has promised and is storing up for you in heaven.

Stay rooted in Christ,

Anticipating the immeasurable reality of God’s kingdom on earth as it most definitely and decisively is in heaven.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Faithful Father, thank you that you have plans for your church that are for our good and your glory. The Bible says the church is your house, you dwell in the midst of your people. Let us be built on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. Let us be built together in a way that honors you. May Christ dwell in our hearts through faith so that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Savior. Amen.

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Covenant Obligation: To be Sharing our Faith Story Where Jesus Christ Is Not Known nor even Necessarily Desired. Romans 15:17-22

When I listen to the radio in my car, I often skip past music that I don’t like.

Some of it I simply don’t understand.

Some of it – based upon my age and upbringing, I would never call it “music.”

It spends far too much time glorifying a lifestyle which is fosters violence and counter cultural behaviors such as street gangs and illicit use of illegal drugs.

Yet even at my age, trying to understand the background of rap music or the anger of a Metallica song can give me helpful clues into the culture around me.

Paul learned how to take the cultural events and ideas of his day and connect them with the message of Jesus so that people of other faiths could understand.

If you have been a Christian for a long time and you are worshiping with others today, you can expect that the message you hear will be one you understand.

But is it a message that will also relate to guests who come for the first time?

In our churches are we speaking the language of the communities around us?

Many churches have become skilled at speaking the language of their culture.

They know that each Wednesday night or Sunday morning some people might show up who won’t understand all of their words, rituals, and ways of worship.

These churches try very hard to reach out, to be welcoming and also inclusive.

If you remember your first experience at being a first-time guest in a church or your own church, or you are a longtime believer, or whether you are a cradle to the grave member, remember that we do not need to understand everything.

We do not really need to know everything there is to know about everyone who is inside. We do not really need to know the denomination on the church sign.

We do not need to “google” the area churches for their consumer ratings.

We need to know if our experience in that Church will reveal God in Christ Jesus.

To know if our experience in that church only reveals the Gospel of our Culture.

There is no mystery in knowing and experiencing what influence culture has had on our church, on the message of Christ which “tickles our funny bones.”

There is always mystery in knowing what God has done, is doing, in the life of His church on a street corner, which is about tickling funny bones everywhere.

What we do understand, is the message of the Gospel of God truth though, is the language of welcome, acceptance, love, and grace but also of repentance.

We are covenanted by God with a holy and sacred obligation to preach the Gospel of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, a sacred duty to share our faith, influence the culture around us, not the other way.

It opens us up to the message from the Word that God wants us to hear today.

Romans 15:17-22Amplified Bible

17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have found [legitimate] reason for boasting in things related [to my service] to God. 18 For I will not [even] presume to speak of anything except what Christ has done through me [as an instrument in His hands], resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles [to the gospel], by word and deed, 19 with the power of signs and wonders, [and all of it] in the power of the Spirit. So [starting] from Jerusalem and as far away as [a]Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel [faithfully preaching the good news] of Christ [where it had not before been preached]. 20 Accordingly I set a goal to preach the gospel, not where Christ’s name was already known, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; 21 but [instead I would act on this goal] as it is written [in Scripture],

“They who had no news of Him shall see,
And they who have not heard [of Him] shall understand.”

22 This [goal—my commitment to this principle] is the reason why I have often been prevented from coming to you [in Rome].

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The problem with many worldly Christians, and perhaps some of you in this blog room, is that to you, your Christianity, your “Christiana-lity” is just such an incredibly intimate and personal thing; you do not ever desire to share it.

You have your ticket to heaven, you have your eternal fire insurance, and frankly, you don’t really care whether anybody else goes to heaven or not.

Sometimes Christians remind me of the lady who was taking a CPR and first aid course with me and several other healthcare professionals several years ago.

In the process of the class, the students were asked to give examples of how they had already been able to use their CPR or first aid training.

One day this young lady said, “I got to use my first aid training the other day. I heard a terrible crash in front of my house. A car had run into my yard, hit a tree, and the car doors had flown open, and there were some injured people on my front lawn. Because I had taken this first aid class, I immediately knew what to do. I sat down and took breaths, put my head between my knees, so I wouldn’t pass out.”

That’s the problem.

With our Christianity, we are like a bunch of people using first aid on ourselves.

When there are hurting people all around us, we are seen or acting like we need to take several deep breaths, then finding any quiet, non-descript place to be alone, tucking our heads between our knees to keep ourselves from fainting.

If your intent is not to faint in public at the slightest possibility of sharing the Gospel, if you’re content to hang on to the gospel and not share it with anybody else, you probably don’t share the zealous missionary heart of the Apostle Paul.

19 with the power of signs and wonders, [and all of it] in the power of the Spirit. So [starting] from Jerusalem and as far away as [a]Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel [faithfully preaching the good news] of Christ [where it had not before been preached]. 20 Accordingly I set a goal to preach the gospel, not where Christ’s name was already known, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; 21 but [instead I would act on this goal] as it is written [in Scripture],

“They who had no news of Him shall see,
And they who have not heard [of Him] shall understand.” (Isaiah 52:15)

22 This [goal—my commitment to this principle] is the reason why I have often been prevented from coming to you [in Rome].

Did you notice the three locations there?

Jerusalem was the beginning point of the Christian church.

Then he said, “I preached the gospel all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum.”

Now we would call that modern day Yugoslavia, all the way over to that part of Eastern Europe.

Then Paul says, “I’m probably going to come see you guys in Rome, but it’s only on my way to Spain.”

Had you looked at a map of the civilized world when Paul, in Corinth, wrote these words in about 56 or 57 A.D., you wouldn’t have found Spain on the map, because it was such an utter end-of-the-earth at that time.

In those days, they thought the earth was flat.

If you sailed much past Spain, you were going to drop off the end of the earth.

Paul says, “My heart’s desire is to go where Christ has never been preached, even if I have to go to the very ends of the earth.”

Fully Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ—Romans 15:17-19

“Therefore, I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done- by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So, from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.”

What a marvelous thing to be able to exclaim that everywhere you went you fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ without even one ounce of reservation.

What a great feeling to know that your life was given for the good news of Jesus, which has the power to save (Romans 1:16).

This was the theme and mission of Paul’s life.

He boldly taught Christ, faced all opposition to the message and ran the race set before him unto a glorious finish.

What is most amazing about this declaration is that Paul would not boast in anything except what the Lord Jesus accomplished through him.

His mission was to “go to the furthest reaches” to lead the Gentiles to Christ, he was the apostle set apart from his birth for this specific purpose (Romans 1:1).

Nowadays, that might be to go into an inner-city church for the first time to see and experience for yourself whether our prejudices and biases are reality based.

Everywhere, every culture where Paul went people came to the Lord because of the Living Word he taught, the demonstration of power that accompanied him.

The Holy Spirit verified by signs and wonders that he spoke on behalf of God.

Paul was the willing participant and the instrument God used to herald His amazing news to the world.

This is a critically important truth to understand; God confirms his Word by demonstration of power through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus established this truth throughout the gospels. When people cornered him asking if he was the Messiah,

he would answer them like this, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me” (John 10:25).

He never answered them by his own testimony, because the works he did, did all of the testifying to exactly who he was (see John 5:36; John 10:38; Matthew 11:4; John 2:23; Matthew 13:17).

To answer them plainly would not have satisfied Jesus, because the works that Jesus did were the evidence and necessary credentials that he was indeed the Messiah promised and sent by God.

Every miracle, sign and wonder that Jesus preformed was a fulfillment of what the prophets had foretold about the promised Messiah.

They testify that he came on behalf of God.

Even in the Old Testament, the prophet of God demonstrated that he was God’s spokesperson by performing miracles. 

Consider Moses as an example; he told Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go and demonstrated his command with the plagues because of Pharaoh’s hardness of heart.

When Pharaoh finally let the Israelites go,

Moses parted the Red Sea,

he produced water from a rock, and

he led the Israelites through the desert following the pillar of fire and stood by while God fed them quail and manna for those many years.

This was the proof that Moses spoke on behalf of God alone, because the Lord alone verified His word by these signs and wonders.

Elijah the Prophet had similar experiences.

To prove that He was the prophet of the One and only true God, he challenged the prophets of Baal to a battle.

He drenched the alter in water and asked God to send fire down from heaven to consume the offering.

Immediately fire came down and burned up everything.

He also prayed that it would not rain, and it didn’t for over 3 years.

Then when he prayed again, the heavens opened up and poured down rain upon the earth.

This is the proof of the prophet, the words spoken were confirmed by miracles.

There are countless others who experienced the same verification; Joshua, Abraham, Elisha, Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jonah, just to name a few.

This is a great reminder for today.

Paul experienced many people coming to the Lord by the gospel he preached and the work of the Holy Spirit present to confirm that the Word was true.

We too are ministers of the good news of Christ Jesus.

We should also expect confirmation by the Holy Spirit of the words we speak in preaching the good news of Christ. 

It is my hope at the end I will proudly boast of what has been accomplished by Jesus ALONE living through me.

I will always be ready to share the gospel with anyone who has an ear to hear, and I know that Holy Spirit will confirm the word spoken, because the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

Apostle Paul’s Ambition to Preach the Gospel Where Christ Was Not Known.

“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you” (Romans 15:20-22)

Paul’s desire to share the gospel with people who previously had no knowledge of it, fueled three missionary journeys across the known world at that time.

Everywhere Paul, companions went they faced fiery, fierce, violent persecution because of the good news message of Christ as well as overwhelming response to it.

Paul acted upon the principal of what was written in Isaiah, 

“For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand” (Isaiah 52:15).

His desire was to share Christ where this message was previously unknown so this foundation would not be built upon anything thing else but grace.

Paul’s revelation of grace was unmatched by anyone.

He received it by direct revelation from Jesus (Galatians 1:11-12).

He understood the finer points of the Law because of his background as a Pharisee and Jesus showed him how each one was fulfilled and accomplished by His life, death and resurrection on the cross.

Paul understood the complete gospel and the grace of God toward mankind in the person of Jesus Christ, so naturally his desire was to reveal this knowledge to the rest of the world.

It is interesting to think how Paul alone was the apostle to the Gentile nation.

The Jews had the twelve’s apostles specifically set apart to share the good news of Christ with them and show them how he was their promised Messiah.

But Paul was the only one sent for the Gentiles.

He not only wrote most of the New Testament, but the details and accounts of his life and missionary journeys where incredible.

This is because Paul was able to share the good news of Christ Jesus to those who had no preconceived notions about who the Messiah would be.

Most of the time, they didn’t even recognize that one had been promised, let alone identify their need for a Savior.

When he shared the gospel in these areas, Paul didn’t have to combat doctrines or fight against the teachings and traditions of men.

He didn’t have to overcome inflexible ideology and tear down philosophy in order to build on a new foundation of Christ.

What is awesome is that he went to areas that had never heard of Jesus and was able to share the good news on his revelation of grace.

In this sense, the good news was too good to pass up and multitudes believed in Jesus and learned about this amazing grace under the apostle to the Gentiles.

This is an amazing truth, when we open our hearts to the Living Word of God without bringing in traditions, doctrines and preconceived ideas of what it means to follow Christ then we will also get such an indescribably powerful revelation of grace by the Holy Spirit, that our entire lives will be affected.

Not only ours, but those around us will be impacted as well.

So many times, in too many ways, our ‘religion’ gets in the way of relationship.

Search the Gospels, Jesus never spoke well of religion.

He told the disciples: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6). 

He was speaking against the established system that was corrupt and enslaving the people by rules, regulations and traditions that were meaningless.

These teachings kept them from God and finding true reconciliation with him by faith.

This is why, like Paul, our faith should be built on a revelation of grace through Christ Jesus.

Grace is what combats our meaningless traditions so that our lives stem out of relationship with Christ instead of “our connectional obligation” to religion.

The grace and mercy of Jesus is the cornerstone that holds it all together.

It is a firm foundation that cannot be shaken or removed by persecution or opposition to this message.

I am so thankful for Paul’s revelation of grace and his desire to share this great news to everyone who had an ear to hear it.

I am so thankful he wrote this amazing book of Romans inspired by the Holy Spirit so that we can understand the grace that we were called into through Christ Jesus. And to share our faith and live this grace all the days of our lives.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Mighty God, your Word is living and active. Help me to listen carefully to your voice as you give me wisdom and guide me through life. Your word is a lamp for my feet. When I don’t know where I am going, help me to look to you for understanding and follow the path that you show me. You are a light shining in the darkness. When I don’t know which way to turn, shine the light of your love into every corner of my life. Bring clarity to my thoughts. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

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