Do Something

It's not enough to do nothing, It's time for us to do something.

"Do Something" by Matthew West
Matthew shares the real-life story of a girl who asked, "If I don't do something, who will?

God's children can long for heaven so much that the trials and the injustice of this sinful world will get us down. Instead of getting depressed about everything that we see wrong in the world we need to see these difficulties in life as opportunities to "do something."

Since we have experienced God's ultimate love, love so big that he had to "do something" for us, we should be compelled to love our neighbor and "do something" for them.

I woke up this morning Saw a world full of trouble now Thought, how'd we ever get so far down How's it ever gonna turn around So I turned my eyes to Heaven I thought, "God, why don't You do something?" Well, I just couldn't bear the thought of People living in poverty Children sold into slavery The thought disgusted me So, I shook my fist at Heaven Said, "God, why don't You do something?" He said, "I did, I created you" If not us, then who If not me and you Right now, it's time for us to do something If not now, then when Will we see an end To all this pain It's not enough to do nothing It's time for us to do something I'm so tired of talking About how we are God's hands and feet But it's easier to say than to be Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves It's alright, "somebody else will do something" Well, I don't know about you But I'm sick and tired of life with no desire I don't want a flame, I want a fire I wanna be the one who stands up and says, "I'm gonna do something" We are the salt of the earth We are a city on a hill But we're never gonna change the world By standing still

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God Is Love

If you love God then how can you not love your neighbor?

1 John 4:7-12, 16-21  Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.  8  But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  9  God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.  10  This is real love--not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  11  Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.  12  No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.

16  We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.  17  And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.  18  Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love.

19  We love each other because He loved us first.  20  If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?  21  And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.

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You have probably heard the short phrase "God is love," it was a very popular saying when I was a kid yet we didn't realize how true that phrase is. In fact God's character and everything about him is defined by love, God is love, it is God's nature to love and love is the essence of his being. God is the source of everything that we know about love and thankfully we don't have to live in a world without love because our creator's character is defined by love and he gives it to all of his creation. Try to imagine how different our world would be if God were not so loving, it doesn't matter if you are his child, God's loving character benefits all of us.

God is the limitless source of all love and he is the perfect model of what genuine love looks like. Every child of God should understand that God's way of showing love is pretty extreme but it is our example. Just as God is a limitless source of love we need to love without ceasing as well. Scary thought, the Bible tells us that we are to be loving, it doesn't say we have a choice but it tells us that if we are not loving then we do not know God.

Psalms 116:5 How kind the LORD is! How good He is! So merciful, this God of ours!

Since God is love those who belong to him have the power to become more loving, God has given us his nature so that we can become more like him, we are not allowed to grow old and crabby! As we experience God and his love and allow his nature to have control of our life we will have to love him and everybody else more.

Another popular phrase when I was young was "you are the only Bible that some people will ever read." Think about it, does your life look like what you say you believe? Does the world see God's love in you?

Ephesians 5:2  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.

Jesus love is brought to full expression for the world to see when they observe the effect it has on your lifestyle and on your character. If I do not live a lifestyle of love then God's love has failed to do what it set out to accomplish in my life. Hatred, envy, wrath, gossip and anything else that shows a lack of love, all have their source in something else other than God. It doesn't originate from him and he does not approve of them.

God's children are loving
John 13:34-35  So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  35  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples."

Just as we can say "God is love," this next phrase should be just as famous and just as true, "Christ disciples are love." Too bad that isn't really true. They started out being known for their love but sometime after the New Testament the church got off of the love thing and started up with the power thing.

The early church went from persecution to power very quickly in the Roman Empire, when this happened the church lost it's first love and it lost a lot of it's effectiveness, instead of being known for love it became known for wars and for building huge cathedrals.

Right after the apostles die off the teaching that they did against false doctrine grew very quickly. Many wars and dirty politics in world history are a result of the church leaving the way of love. Can you imagine how attractive the church would be if it was know for loving  the way Jesus calls us to love?

We give up our leverage in society when we opt for anything other than love. -Andy Stanley

Because God is love the world assumes that God's people should be different. They have the right to expect us to love and be like Jesus, don't get mad if they hold you to a higher standard, there is somebody much bigger that is expecting you to live up to that standard.

I need to remember that: God is the source of all love (1 John 4:7-8) he models what genuine love is (1 John 4:9-10) and he commands me to love the same way that he did. (1 John 4:11-12)

Is It The Truth?

True or false questions can be the trickiest ones to answer correctly.

1 John 4:1-6  Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.

2  This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3  But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

4  But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

5  Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world's viewpoint, and the world listens to them.  6  But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.

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You see all kinds of scams reported in the news and you wonder how somebody could think they were being told the truth. We all should know that you cannot believe everything that you hear, people will lie to you just as fast as the devil does, maybe we are a lot more vulnerable to scams than we want to admit. It seems like the most outrageous lie will still have somebody that is willing to believe it.

Jesus warned us that Satan is the father of lies and he has a lot of children that act just like their father.  They may be the nicest people that you could ever meet but they are liars. There are people lying to you about the everyday stuff of the physical world as well as people that are false teachers that are lying about spiritual things. You need wisdom to help you test their motives so that you can know the truth.

John 8:44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Every teacher needs to be put to the test to determine where their teaching is coming from. The most important teaching that must be checked is what they teach about Jesus:

✔  Do they believe that Jesus is God?
✔  Do they believe that God's Son came to earth to pay the penalty that we owed for sin?
✔  Do they believe that Jesus covered our sins without any help from us based on our good works?

Just about all of the New Testament books have teaching about the dangers of bad doctrine and the people who try to teach it. The devil is okay with you knowing about Jesus but he doesn't want you to have the correct beliefs about Jesus. Wrong teaching about Christ showed up right away, Satan didn't want the truth to be known so he had plenty of subtle variations of the truth ready for those who do not want to believe the truth about Jesus.

The trouble with false teachers

Galatians 5:7-12 You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? 8 It certainly isn't God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. 9 This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! 10 I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.

The InterVarsity New Testament Commentary explains the problems that false teachers cause:

✔  they distract Christians from obeying the truth of the gospel (v. 7)
✔  they replace the call of God with their own deceptive persuasiveness (v. 8)
✔  they gain control over the whole church (v. 9)
✔  they cause confusion and discouragement (v. 10)
✔  they spread false reports about spiritual leaders (v.11)
✔  they emphasize sensational rituals (v.12)

We need to be concerned about the danger and keep our guard up but there is no need for Christians to fear the false teachers because those in whom God dwells can overcome those in whom Satan dwells. We should be motivated to dig into the word so that we will know what we believe and why we believe it.

I need to follow the truth as I finish the race that God has called me to run.

God's Children Know How To Please Him

Pleasing God isn't a big mystery we just need to do it.

1 John 3:22-24  And we will receive from Him whatever we ask because we obey Him and do the things that please Him.   

23 And this is His commandment: We must believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.  24  Those who obey God's commandments remain in fellowship with Him, and He with them. And we know He lives in us because the Spirit He gave us lives in us.

Colossians 1:9-10  So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.  10  Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

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Does God seem like an impersonal being that you cannot have a friendly relationship with? If that is your idea of who God is then you have a good reason to not like him. The good news is that your idea of what God is like is all wrong and you don't really know him. You need to know that you can please God.

Very few people, including believers, feel like they are pleasing to God. Most of us feel some degree of forgiveness and acceptance but to think that God is actually pleased with us is a difficult concept. Satan knows that we will not feel close to God if we doubt our standing before him as his children that he loves. So he accuses us in an attempt to drive a wedge between us and God, that has been his plan to get back at God ever since the garden, but God destroyed Satan's plans long ago.

One of the reasons we should be concerned with pleasing God is because it is a requirement for our prayers to be answered. If we do not have any concern for what God thinks about our lifestyle then we have no business asking him to be concerned with our request.

A Sinful Lifestyle Cannot Please God.
Romans 8:7-8  For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

The Bible tells us that we are so bad off in our old sin nature that we don't have any desire to please God. I need the help of the Holy Spirit to motivate me and change my desires because without his help I am powerless to change and I won't even have the desire to change. I need him to make living in sin an uncomfortable place to be so that I can live in fellowship with God. Can you, like Paul, say that your goal is to please God? (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

We don't have to live in fear wondering how to please God. All of the man made gods that man has worshiped have always left their followers wondering how to please the god. Whether it was the sun god or the moon god or any other god they couldn't have any confidence that they could please him. If it didn't rain for a long time they would have to wonder how they could make the rain god happy. Not so with our God, he didn't leave us in the dark without a clue about how to please him, from cover to cover the Bible tells us how to please God.

Knowing God does not come through a program, a study, or a method. Knowing God comes through a relationship with a Person. This is an intimate love relationship with God. Through this relationship, God reveals Himself, His purposes, and His ways; and He invites you to join Him where He is already at work.

-Experiencing God by Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King

Pleasing God begins with knowing God, we cannot create an instant relationship, we have to put in the time to cultivate this relationship. When two people are in love, they look for every opportunity to be together, they delight in the process of getting to know each other and pleasing each other. First we need to know him as our Savior and then we need to know him as our Lord.

We need to know that we cannot do anything to deserve a relationship with God, we need to know that his son died to pay the penalty that I deserved for my sin, that's where your relationship with God must begin.

After we know him as our Savior then we need to make him the Lord of our life. That is a scary thing for a new believer that just getting to know God. It takes time to build a relationship of trust that will allow somebody else to be in control of our life.

Some of the ways that we can please God:

1 Samuel 15:22  But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Psalms 116:12-13  What can I offer the LORD for all He has done for me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the LORD's name for saving me. Proverbs 21:3  The LORD is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer Him sacrifices. Micah 6:8  No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what He requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Romans 12:2  Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 1 Timothy 2:1-3  I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.  Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.  This is good and pleases God our Savior, Hebrews 11:6  And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him. Hebrews 12:28  Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe. Hebrews 13:16  And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

God can be pleased without the performance anxiety of other religions. God is never going to owe me anything, I need to prove my love to him through obeying his commands but that isn't going to earn me a place in heaven. I need to please him because of who he is and how much he has done for me.

Even though our best isn't much he is pleased just as a parent appreciates their child's crude Sunday School craft project, God looks at our handiwork and sees a mess, he knows that that's the best we can do on our own. God looks into our hearts and sees the purity of our motives and our desire to please him.

If we are pleasing to God, although we shall not escape trial, we shall find great peace and special happiness. He is not an unhappy man who is pleasing to God. By pleasing God we shall become the means of good to others—our example will rebuke and stimulate. Our peace will convince and invite.

- Charles Spurgeon

Thank you God that we can know you personally and we can learn how to please you. Thank you for allowing me to know you as Savior. Help me to learn more fully how to know you as Lord and live to please you instead of myself.

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