Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Found: God's Will

Finding the direction and purpose that God has for your life.



Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  6  Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Matthew 12:48-50  Jesus asked, "Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?"  49  Then He pointed to His disciples and said, "Look, these are My mother and brothers.  50  Anyone who does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!"

Most of us acknowledge that God has a plan for the life of every believer but with all of the different possible directions that you could go in life you may think to yourself, how can I possibly know which way God wants me to go?

There are a lot of blog post, books and sermons about this topic yet we don't seem to know what it is most of the time. It is as if God has made it really hard to know what he wants, his will seems to be hidden from us, but if he is really interested in me doing his will then why would he make it so difficult?

Some of us expect God to throw his will in our face and make it really obvious through a dramatic experience or worse yet we fear that he will speak to us through a tragic event. We don't ask because we are scared of how he will answer, and not only that but he may answer by telling us to do something we don't even like to do.

Jesus told us that the people that have the closest relationship with him, the people that are his mother, sisters and brothers are the people that do his will. That should be great incentive to be in the center of his will.

John MacArthur tells us in his book, "Found: God's Will," that God will make his will clear to his people if they are living for him.

Five things that you must be in order to know the will of God.


BE SAVED

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 crucial first step, without this you can never know how to please God, you must be saved. It is the most important thing that you need to know about God's will. In our own natural state that we were born in we can never please God and we will never really care about pleasing God therefore we won't know anything about his will or place any value on it.

God loves everybody in the world so much that he had a plan that would keep them from his wrath. He made all of us and wants to be involved in our life in a greater way than we can be without his Son. (John 3:16, Acts 17:26-28)

Jesus sheep know his voice and after he gathers them together he walks ahead of them so that they can know where they should go. (John 10:4)

BE SPIRIT FILLED

Ephesians 5:17-18 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.

2 Peter 1:3 By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him.

It sounds harsh but Paul says that if you do not understand what God's will is then you are foolish. If you think about it it would be crazy to life your life without understanding what you were created for. God didn't create anything without purpose and if you decide that you don't care what that purpose is then your life will be a waste.
The spirit filled life: Living each moment as if you were in the presence of Jesus. With the same power as if Jesus was standing next to you. - John MacArthur
Being spirit filled and allowing him to be in charge is a basic of God’s will, it is the source of power and the good news is that you already have him in you. Isn't it crazy to ask God for what you already have? (Acts 1:8, Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 6:19)

BE SANCTIFIED

1 Thessalonians 4:3-7 God's will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. 4 Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor-- 5 not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and His ways. 6 Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. 7 God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. 8 Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives His Holy Spirit to you.
Paul gives us four principles:

✔  Sanctification - You shouldn't expect God to answer your prayers asking to know his will if you are living in sin.

✔  Control your body - Sexual sin is obvious but what about gluttony? What about your tongue?

✔  Subdue your passions - Christianity picks you up from the gutter it lifts you up so stay up! Don’t let sin drag you back down.

✔  Treat others fairly - Don’t harm anyone, don't cheat, and don’t use people sexually or in business or any other way.

BE SUBMISSIVE

1 Peter 2:12-15 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when He judges the world. 13 For the Lord's sake, respect all human authority--whether the king as head of state, 14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. 15 It is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.

God's will for all of us is to be salt and light and as such we should be the best citizens of our community and the best employees where we work. You know that a follower of Jesus is usually in the spotlight and the world is looking for an opportunity to point out our flaws.

BE SUFFERING

Romans 8:23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us.

Living a Godly life will bring suffering, despite what Joel Osteen tells you, God isn't interested in making you comfortable and fulfilling all of your dreams. The Bible never shows God's people living a life of ease for very long.

If God's people would have refused to face trials and suffering then the gospel would have never gone beyond the Holy Land. One of the problems of evangelism today is that we are not bold enough to push through to the presentation of the gospel, we are okay with people knowing that we go to church but we don't go all the way in presenting the gospel because we don't want to offend anyone.
Be Yourself
Romans 12:1-2  And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.

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.
The point of John MacArthur's book is that if you are saved, spirit filled, sanctified, submissive and suffering then God’s will is going to be very clear to you. If all five of these are evident in your life then you can do anything that you want to do since the person that is really in control of your life and your desires is Jesus.

The Bible says that God will give you the desire of your heart but that isn't a blank check that any person that claims to be a Christian can cash. We like to ignore the fact that God gives generously to the people that delight in him. As Paul says in Romans it is the people that have become a living and holy sacrifice, the people that God has transformed, those are the people that are going to know God's good and pleasing and perfect will. (Psalm 37:4)

If you are the right you, then you can follow your desires and you will fulfill his will, you will be able to make the right choices without hesitation.

This blog is completely not for profit and as such I do not receive any compensation for a favorable review of John MacArthur's book.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Stop Following Me

Does your ministry glorify Jesus or yourself?



John 3:22-30  Then Jesus and His disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.

23  At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism.  24  (This was before John was thrown into prison.)

25  A debate broke out between John's disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing.  26  So John's disciples came to him and said, "Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the One you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to Him instead of coming to us."

27  John replied, "No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.  28  You yourselves know how plainly I told you, 'I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for Him.'  29  It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at His success.

30  He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

Have you ever met a follower of John the Baptist? Eventually his following disappeared but when he first told them that they shouldn't settle for less and that the ministry of the Messiah was far greater than his many of them stayed with him. Instead of leaving many of his followers were eager to promote and even protect his ministry.

It would have been easy for John to adopt the same attitude as his followers and ignore the Messiah just like they were doing. He could have become prideful that the Holy Spirit was with him before he was born. The crowds were coming from all over to hear him preach, there aren't very many preachers that get to enjoy that, even Jesus testified how great that John the Baptist was. (Luke 1:15-17, 76, Matthew 3:5-6, 11:11)

Competition in ministry is wrong but it isn't anything new. On one occasion when the Holy Spirit came on two young men, Joshua, who was Moses’ helper, said, “Moses, my lord, restrain them.” But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:28-29)

A similar thing happened when the apostle John saw someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name and tried to prevent him, because he wasn't a part of their group (Mark 9:39). Paul had to deal with the idea of competition in ministry. Some people tried to promote the superiority of one ministry over another but Paul didn't let their opinion of his work go to his head.
1 Corinthians 3:5  After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God's servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us.
The Bible makes it clear that a Christ follower is supposed to be a minister but they are also supposed to be a servant. We do not like the concept of being a servant but that is the life that we are supposed to live. A servant is the most submissive lifestyle that we can understand, they don't have rights that are owed to them, they can be told what to do and how to do it at any time.

What servant has a right to claim that their ministry is better than another? If God is doing a greater work somewhere else is he calling you to terminate your current ministry and join him in that new work?
I Am God's Servant
Ephesians 3:7  By God's grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving Him by spreading this Good News.
God gives me a work to do and he gives me the power to do it. I don't have anything apart from God, as his servant I have been given a job to do and I receive the power to do that job through him. Our pride gets in the way and we forget that we received a commission from God, he gives me the power to do it, and he can easily tell me to stop and serve somewhere else.

Success in ministry comes from God and if he isn't working where you are working then maybe it is time to look at where he is working and go join him there. I have to wonder how many ministries are still operating long after God has asked them to stop. We try to direct God and keep him in line with our plans but sometimes God is doing a new work and we need to let go of what he was using yesterday.

Humility comes from knowing who God is and keeping our focus on him. The clearer our vision of His majesty and greatness and power and glory, the more we will be humbled in His presence and obey his will for our lives.

Thank you Lord for allowing me to serve you, I pray that everything that I do exalts you and encourages others to do the same. I want to serve where you want me to serve. (1 Timothy 1:12)

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Anti Santy Ranty

Is your view of God similar to your view of Santa?



They say there’s a big man who lives far away,
Supposedly jolly but it’s hard to say.
I’ve never seen him, and neither have you.
But the children believe, and I spose that’ll do.

He’s known as a loner, with many a quirk
No time for a chat, he’s embroiled in his work
He keeps to himself, for most of the year,
I reckon we’re grateful he doesn’t appear.

We send him requests, for particular needs,
But we never hear back, who knows if he heeds?
We try to be good, give his arm a twist,
To merit our place on his blessed little list.

And maybe one day if we do what we should,
He’ll give us our things, so long as we’re good.
I’ve had it to here, I’m calling his bluff:
He’s a weird moralistic dispenser of stuff!

Granted, this rant is a strange one to pick
But listen I’m not really after St Nick
As strange as he is, and Santa is odd,
In fact I’m attacking most folks’ view of God.

It’s God who we see as a distant Big Guy –
An ancient, invisible, St Nick in the Sky.
“He’s sees you asleep, He knows when you wake
He’s watching and waiting to spot your mistake.”

And just like with Santa, requests we hand in,
We want all his things but we don’t want him.
That’s our connection with old Father Christmas.
We might dress it up, it’s essentially business.

Throughout the year, good behavior's our onus
When Christmas rolls round we’re expecting our bonus.
“Just leave us the gifts Nick, we’ve been good enough!
And then please push on, now we’ve got all your stuff!”

I mean Santa is interesting, curious, quirky
But no-one wants him to share their Turkey!
I’m sure his “ho, ho, hos” are sublime,
But I fear what he’ll say once he’s drunk our mulled wine.

That’s old St Nick, but the picture rings true,
It’s how we imagine what God is like too.
But Christmas resounds with a stunning “Not so!”
The One from on high was born down below.

To a world in need He did not send another.
God the Son became God our Brother.
He drew alongside, forever to dwell,
Our God in the flesh, Emmanuel.

This God in the Manger uproots all our notions:
A heavenly stooping, divine demotion.
Born in a stable, wriggling on straw,
Fully committed to life in the raw.

Santa gives things and then goes away.
Jesus shows up, to befriend and to stay.
Santa rewards those with good behavior.
Jesus comes near to the broken as Savior.

If you don’t like God, I think I know why…
You probably think He’s St Nick in the Sky.
You’re right to reject that far-away stranger!
This Christmas look down to the God in the manger.
Taken from "Christ The Truth" blog.
If you think about it you will have to admit that a lot of people view God the same as they view Santa Claus. Just about every time we talk to him it is to ask him for something and we feel like we can't ask for anything unless we are on his good list.

Christmas shows us a very different God. Jesus is the God who draws very near to us and he draws near to us regardless of what we deserve.

The "big man" that lives far away wants to be a lot more to us than a dispenser of stuff. The gifts that Jesus brings cannot be touched, he came to give us forgiveness, he gives us incredible love and the opportunity to spend eternity with him. What better gifts could you ask for?

Monday, December 15, 2014

Emmanuel - God With Us

All that is within me cries for you alone be glorified


MercyMe - God With Us
Who are we that You would be mindful of us?
What do You see that's worth looking our way?
We are free in ways that we never should be.
Sweet release from the grip of these chains.

Like hinges straining from the weight,
My heart no longer can keep from singing.

All that is within me cries
For You alone be glorified:
Emmanuel, God with us.

My heart sings a brand new song.
The debt is paid, these chains are gone.
Emmanuel, God with us.

Lord, You know our hearts don't deserve Your glory;
Still You show a love we cannot afford.

Like hinges straining from the weight,
My heart no longer can keep from singing.

All that is within me cries
For You alone be glorified:
Emmanuel, God with us.

My heart sings a brand new song.
The debt is paid, these chains are gone.
Emmanuel, God with us.

Such a tiny offering
Compared to Calvary;
Nevertheless,
We lay it at Your feet.

Such a tiny offering
Compared to Calvary;
Nevertheless,
We lay it at Your feet.

All that is within me cries
For You alone be glorified:
Emmanuel, God with us.

My heart sings a brand new song.
The debt is paid, these chains are gone.
Emmanuel, God with us.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Peace On Earth, Good Will To Men

Is there really any peace?



I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on earth good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men

Peace on earth, Peace on earth
Peace on earth, Good will to men

It is easy to look at the events in the news and decide that peace is nothing but a dream. The idea of peace gets even worse at Christmas when many people are stressed and they let there worse character qualities come out.
John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
Jesus warned us that there would be unrest and difficult times before he returns to take us home. It will take a conscious decision on my part to trust in him when everything around me is so unsettled.

I am responsible to live a peaceful life that is full of love for everyone. I need to influence my piece of the world and make it a better place. (John 16:33, Romans 12:18, Hebrews 12:14)

Thursday, December 04, 2014

What Christmas Really Means

The world has a lot of ways to get Jesus out of the celebration.



Luke 1:67-79  Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:

68  "Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.  69  He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of His servant David,  70  just as He promised through His holy prophets long ago.

71  Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us.  72  He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering His sacred covenant-- 73  the covenant He swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.

74  We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear,  75  in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.

76  "And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord.  77  You will tell His people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.

78  Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,  79  to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

The world cannot come up with enough ways to distract us from the real reason that we celebrate at this time of year. At first everybody probably knew what the celebration was all about but in today's world it has become so bad that I am sure that there are people that have never heard about the special baby that is the real reason for the celebration.

Christmas is not supposed to be synonymous with chestnuts roasting on an open fire or other warm, fuzzy feelings. Christmas is a lot messier than that. Christmas is about a very ugly situation that God wanted to make right. Christmas deals with the messy fact that sinners need to be rescued from God’s judgment.

In today's scripture Zechariah has just received a great gift from God, John the Baptist has just been born and Zechariah has had his speech restored. We usually think of prophets as being an Old Testament thing but in these verses Zechariah is more that just a priest, he also is a prophet.

Our greatest need at Christmas time is not for more things. We all have plenty of things. Neither is it for personal fulfillment, though many think that’s what they need and madly try to find it. Our greatest need is not even for the love of family and friends, as important as that is. The greatest need that Christmas wants to meet is for salvation.

Zechariah shows a lot of insight to the reason that Jesus stepped out of heaven and came to be "God with us."

Salvation is God’s doing, not our doing.

Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Emmanuel, "God with us," happened because he was reaching out to us with a purpose out of his own motivation. (Luke 1:68, 78) We did not go searching for Him and we didn't deserve to have him reach out to us. We like to think that we are in control but the Bible makes it clear that God orders everything, controls everything, and rules over everything and our salvation is his doing. (Daniel 4:35)

Salvation is accomplished through the person of Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity--the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.
Although Jesus' name is not mentioned specifically in Zacharias’ prophecy, he is described so that there is no mistake about who he is talking about. The King James version called him the horn of salvation from the house of David, in the Gospel of John chapter one he is the word,  Zachariah calls him the the morning light from heaven.  The Old Testament prophet called him the sun of righteousness that will rise with healing in its wings. Jesus claimed that he is the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness. (Malachi 4:2, John 8:12)

Salvation results in a life of holy service to God.

Titus 2:12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God.
Does your salvation have any affect on the way that you live? Zachariah says, “we have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live.” (Luke 1:74-75).

People who think they’re saved but who live for themselves and their own happiness to the neglect of their God and their neigbors are deceived. We are called to live as a slave to righteousness, serving God without fear. (Romans 6:15-23)

I need to point out the real reason for the season of celebration. It is easy to allow the celebration to coverup what we are celebrating. The world loves a party and they love to get free stuff but what most of them do not know is why in the world are we partying and why does it really matter.

Thank you Lord for the gift of salvation! I want to live each day for you, living right and serving you.

Tuesday, December 02, 2014

God Gives Great Gifts

The surest way to receive nothing from God is to be satisfied with less.



Luke 1:46-55 Mary responded, "Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. 47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! 48 For He took notice of His lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed.

49  For the Mighty One is holy, and He has done great things for me.  50  He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear Him.  51  His mighty arm has done tremendous things!

He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.  52  He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble.  53  He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands.

54  He has helped His servant Israel and remembered to be merciful.  55  For He made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever."

Do you want God’s blessing in your life? Can anyone honestly say, “Nah! I’m not interested in that!” Yet we don't always see God's plans for our life as a blessing.

We all need and want God’s blessings. We all want to receive good things from God. He made us and therefore He alone knows what we need most. As a loving Father, He is ready to give His children the best gifts. But sometimes his plans are not our plans and he may be leading us to a huge blessing as we are reluctantly going along with what he is doing.

God doesn't hand out gifts to everyone indiscriminately. If your children are on the naughty list they don't get as much as they might if they were on the good list. God has criteria for gift giving and even though you cannot manipulate God you should have certain characteristics that will make your life "blessable."

God satisfies the spiritually hungry with good things.

In Luke verse fifty-three Mary tells us that God "has filled the hungry with good things.”Obviously God isn't preparing a buffet for us to quench our physical hunger. God is interested in satisfying the appetite of the spiritually hungry.
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
With the abundance of food that most of us have we don't fully get the picture of how spiritually hungry God wants us to be. There are a couple of things that are true of hungry people, they are focused on how to satisfy their hunger and their satisfaction doesn't last for very long before they want more. We pay a lot of attention to satisfying physical hunger and God wants us to be just like that about spiritual matters.

How often do you get spiritually hungry and long to fulfill that desire?

Satisfaction comes from God alone, he made us, he understands us, he knows what we really need and what we yearn for. He knows my deepest need and he wants to meet it completely. We will never have that hunger fully met before we step into God's presence in Heaven. We will hunger and thirst to know him more than we ever will in this body.

God sends the self-satisfied away empty.

The surest way to receive nothing from God is to be satisfied with where you're at. If you are looking at your own ability to take care of yourself or if you are looking anywhere else for satisfaction then God will send you away. Do you look at yourself and feel that you are okay without God? Are you satisfied with what you know about him and what he wants to do in your life or do you want more?

The Jews probably would have guessed that the Messiah would come through the chief priest or one of the many rabbis but God chose a poor carpenter and his wife. a couple that didn't have any significance. Those in Jerusalem who thought that they were spiritually “rich” were overlooked.

Mary says that God “sent away the rich empty-handed.” In this world, the rich are the full and the hungry are the empty. But in God’s order, the rich are the empty and the hungry are the full.
Revelation 3:17 You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
It reminds me of the church of Laodicea. This church was in a prosperous city, the saints there had the impression that their material wealth was a sign that God was okay with them. They were saved and satisfied, they didn't have any desire for spiritual growth, they didn't have any idols and there wasn't any immorality mentioned but they still received a harsh message from God.

There isn't any room for pride when you are approaching God. I must see myself in the same condition as God sees me, he knows how wretched and despicable that I am without Jesus blood, I need to appreciate what he has done for me that I could never deserve and I could never do on my own.

The cares of this world, riches, pleasure and self fulfillment are sure ways to miss the greater gifts that God wants to give us. (Luke 8:14) The worst thing that could happen to anyone is to be full of the passing pleasures of this world, but to be empty-handed when you stand before God at the judgment. He promises that those who are focused on their spiritual hunger are the ones that will truly be satisfied.
Revelation 3:20 "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
This same church received an offer from God. He is willing to be their friend, he wants to draw near, he wants to develop a closer relationship with them. We must come to God on his terms, see ourselves the way that he sees us and then we will be able to receive great gifts from him.

Dear God, I want to seek for satisfaction in you alone. Thank you for the great gifts that you give, especially the gift of your son, help me to never forget my miserable condition without the gift of salvation.