October 15, 2009

"All authority in heaven and on earth HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME" Matthew 28:18

Jesus certainly had authority. No one would argue that. It is not even debatable!

So, if God has all authority and Jesus is God's Son, He certainly could have given Him authority. But was that authority actually given to Him - or did He, in fact have to earn it?

The answer is, "Yes - and - no....."

What sort of an answer is that?

All authority in Heaven was God's and He did give it to Jesus. But the authority on earth belonged to the evil one who had wrested it from Adam in the Garden.

So, Jesus had to earn back that authority.

How do I know that?

I know that because of the three temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry. Those temptations were about Satan trying to negotiate over the authority that he had stolen from the first Adam and was now trying to protect by deceiving the Second Adam.

Satan stole the authority he has and is not about to give it up. Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the debt for Adam's sin and had to rise from the dead to conquer death. That was how He got the authority back. It was given - it was won! And because Jesus won it back from the evil one He can now give it to us.

But to get that authority we have to get Jesus - by faith! And we have to surrender our authority, our will, our selfish nature to Him. We have to die like Jesus died in order to live in His full authority!

He wants to give His authority to us - all authority! We can receive it freely because He purchased it for us!

What do you need to surrender in order to receive His authority?

October 14, 2009

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me......And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18 & 20

The disciples had been with Jesus 24/7 for three years. They had seen His authority over evil, over disease, and recently, over sin and death.

Then, there was that time that Jesus sent them out two by two into the region to minister in His name and with His authority. They had experienced what it was like to take authority over evil, over disease and even over death. The Bible tells us that they came back rejoicing over the victories they had been able to win with His authority.

So, it makes sense that as Jesus was preparing to leave the planet and return to His Father that they might wonder what would happen to His authority. Would His authority depart with Him? This divine mandate He had just given them would take much more that what they possessed in the way of power and authority. It was a God-sized assignment and it would take God-sized help.

What would you be doing if you were them?

Well, now you are them! Their mandate is your mandate. It is still a God-sized job!

We need to hear what Jesus told them. "ALL authority in HEAVEN and on EARTH" is His. It resides in Him! He had the authority of Heaven and when He died and rose from the dead He regained all the authority on earth! It is the authority that Adam had forfeited by his sin. But Jesus, the Second Adam, took back what Adam had lost! So when Jesus said ALL authority that is exactly what He meant!

In short, what Jesus is saying is this, "I have all spiritual authority that exists in the universe and when you have Me you also have this authority"! Think about that!

Jesus was not just giving them a mandate, He was giving them the power to become a movement! And the history of the early Church indicates that when the believers clung to Jesus and received His authority - it was an unstoppable movement! When they worshiped and ministered in Jesus' Name they also operated in all of His authority.

Does Jesus still have that authority? Has he experienced a power shortage? Do we still get ALL authority when we get Jesus or did that change somewhere in the past 2,000 years?

If you are in Christ, why aren't you in His authority? Or are you?

October 13, 2009

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

JESUS IS CALLING YOU OUT TO GO FOR HIM!

You can't go where you haven't been and you can't teach what you haven't learned.

Jesus called out the disciples to know Him and grow in Him so that they could go for Him. That is what I mean by growing from the inside out!

If you don't truly know Jesus, you won't grow in Him and you certainly won't go in His name.

Reach out to those closest to you in your areas of influence:

INTERCEED

Make a list of three to five lost people who you care about, who care about you, and whom you have influence over. Pray daily for those people. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin and to call them to salvation.

IDENTIFY

Identify which of those three to five people on your list is most receptive to a witness from you and most interested in spiritual things.

INVOLVE

Begin to involve yourself in getting closer to this person. Find what they are interested in an take an interest in it. Be interested in their kids or grandkids. Learn names and ages. Let them know they are important to you.

INVEST

While you involve yourself in their interests show an interest in them. Spend time with them. Be kind and helpful toward them. Make deposits in their emotional bank account knowing that you will one day need to make a withdrawal. Make sure you have a positive balance in their account.

INVITE

Once you have built the friendship and they have begun to be interested in your because of your interest in them, then invite that person to a church service or event. 80%-90% of people currently involved in church and serving the Lord, were first invited by a friend. Odds are that if you invite them they will come. And when they come they will hear the Gospel and the Holy Spirit can soften their heart.

INTRODUCE

After they have visited church service or LIFE Group or church social event, ask them what they thought and gauge their spiritual interest and try to involve them in a spiritual conversation. If the opportunity presents itself share your testimony and ask them if they are sure that they are going to Heaven. If they indicate a lack of assurance or admit they don't know, ask if you can show them how they can know for sure and share the way to salvation.

INCORPORATE

If they pray the prayer of salvation and receive Christ. Make sure they get connected with church and LIFE group and offer to study the Bible with them. Be sure they follow up their decision with growth-producing actions.

Aslo, participate in missions trips, missions giving, and church outreaches. That is what it means to GO FOR GOD. Sometimes it may be going across the room, or to the next office, or across the street. It doesn’t have to be far, but we must be willing to go to share the Gospel.

That is what makes a healthy church - disciples who know God, and are growing in God and therefore, are going for God into a lost world.

How well do you know Him?

What evidence is there that you know Him?

When was the last time you shared Him with someone else?

October 12, 2009

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Matthew 28:18

Moving to health is essential if a church is to grow. Things that are healthy will grow! It is the law of nature. Often, churches commit to methods in order to grow and they see some immediate growth. But at some point the healthy new growth collides with the inheathy issues or structure in the church and conflict results.

It makes more sense to concentrate on getting healthy first and then letting growth arise out of the health of the body. The first step of that process is to commit to knowing God. Next, plan to grow in God.

GROW IN GOD

Jesus is calling you out to grow in Him. Growing in God is a result of what you do after you get to know Him.

Jesus called these 11 disciples to this meeting because they had grown in Him. There was one missing who didn’t grow in Him.

Jesus gave them authority to do what He was asking them to do – live out their faith!

Jesus is calling you out! He is calling to know Him and grow in Him.

HOW?

YOU MIGHT HAVE TO GIVE UP

One thing required for spiritual growth is sacrifice. You need to be willing to give up anything that hinders your relationship with God. It might be a habit, it might be a relationship, it might be a secret sin, or it may be an emotional hurt that will require some therapy. But, whatever the issue, God calls His followers to "give up in order to go up".

YOU MIGHT HAVE TO GIVE IN

Another thing necessary for spiritual growth is surrender and Jesus hits the nail on the head right here with the authority issue. One of the last areas we are willing to surrender is our authority - our will - our control issues. To be filled with His authority - His power and His holiness - you must surrender your authority to His. There is no way you can have healthy growth if you are relying on your power. If you have to control it you will kill it!

YOU MIGHT HAVE TO GET

Along with sacrifice and surrender, growth requires that you get spiritual supply from God. You are the one who is spiritually ill and He is the Great Physician. To get healthy, get Him! Whatever you need to grow He has!

How do I know when I am growing? You live and look more like Jesus than before. You see life-change happening in you and through you. You break habits. You live with less fear and more authority. Is there evidence of growth?

What do you need in order to grow?

What sacrifice?

What surrender?

What supply?

October 11, 2009

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted." Matthew 28:16-17


Things grow when they're healthy.


My responsibility in leading the church is to lead it into health so that God can cause it to grow.


One way that can happen is to be true to the vision had for His Church.


Know God

Healthy believers know God! How well do you know Him? What are you doing to get to know Him better?


Jesus called the remaining disciples, minus Judas, to meet Him at a familiar place. Do you have a familiar place where you meet Jesus? If not, do you really know Him? If church is the only place where you meet Jesus, do you really know Him.


How do we do that?

Pursue Him

Pursue Him in worship. That would be public worship with your church family as well as private worship times alone with God in your "familiar place".

Put Him First

Put Him first. If God isn't first in your life He isn't God and whatever IS first will be your God.

Pain And Suffering

There is a level of knowledge about God that you can only experience when you walk through the painful experiences of life. If you walk through the valley of the shadow of death and discover that He really IS with you - you come to know Him in a new way.

Spiritually, we will only be as healthy as our knowledge of God. And we won’t know God unless we spend time with Him. We spend time with Him through prayer and through the Word and through worship. We get to know Him by walking with Him in faith and obedience.

You never REALLY know someone until you live with them! I do premarital counseling with couples who have know each other for awhile and they assure me that they know one another well. But then they get married and live together and discover that first year is a struggle because - you never REALLY know someone until you live with them! That is true of God as well!

Healthy churches are made up of spiritually healthy people. And spiritually healthy people know God because they spend time with Him. The more people there are in a church who answer the call to know God, the healthier that church will be.

JESUS IS CALLING YOU OUT TODAY TO HELP BUILD A HEALTHY CHURCH BY GETTING TO KNOW HIM!

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?

October 10, 2009

"When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted." Matthew 28:17

Now, why did they put that last phrase in there? Isn't that curious? I understand that Matthew would want us to know that the eleven remaining disciples worshiped the Risen Jesus - but did we need to know about the doubters?

How could you doubt Jesus when He is right there; risen, alive, and triumphant?

This serves as one more proof of the authenticity of the Bible. Had it been written by men who were trying to deceive they would not have included those three words "but some doubted".

So, what should we make of that statement?

Personally, I take encouragement from it! Here's why:

First, it tells me that these "some who doubted" (and we don't know how many of them there were) worshiped through their doubts. Even though they were unresolved in their faith, they didn't let it keep them from falling at the feet of the Resurrected Jesus.

Haven't you come to church some time when you were struggling with a doubt? What better place to be when you are unresolved in your faith?

Second, it tells me that God can use spiritually unresolved people to change the world! This same group of eleven became the foundation for the Church of Jesus Christ. So, not only did they worship through their doubts but the served through their doubts.

How many times have you stepped out into some new endeavor for the Lord and you weren't sure what the result would be. It was scary and uncomfortable for you but you leaned on His strength and worked through your doubts! I'm sure you have done that. I know I have!

Third, it doesn't say whether the doubts they had were toward Jesus or about themselves. For every doubt I have had about Him, I have had a thousand toward myself. In fact, when God began to lay the calling for ministry upon my heart, I resisted for four years primarily because I had serious doubts about my ability to measure up to that calling. I believed God could do it I just didn't think I could. Fortunately, a good friend assured me that when He calls He enables.

Why are those three words included in this significant portion of Scripture? I think it is because God want us to know that it is okay to have doubts as long as we worship through them and work through them. God is greater than our doubts!

If you are struggling with some doubts today - bring them to the feet of Jesus!

October 9, 2009

".....teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you....." Matthew 28:20

Like many young boys, I once harbored a vision of becoming a major league baseball player. There was one problem with that vision, I wasn't talented enough to play at that level. I probably didn't have the physical talent to play college ball either - but I did - for four years. And I played a lot. So, I got closer to my dream than my physical ablilities warrented.

How was I able to reach a higher level of competition than I probably deserved? Why was I able to compete with more physically gifted athletes and hold my own? Was I lucky?

Not at all! I earned every inning that I got to play. I worked very hard, trained and practiced by the hours.

When I started playing baseball at the Little League level I was fortunate to have had a coach who was a major league scout and had played some minor league professional ball. Because he knew the game and had played it well, he was able to teach me the fundamentals of baseball. Because he had been what I was hoping to be, I trusted him and I did everything he taught me to do in the fundamentally correct way he showed me to do it.

I enjoyed a college baseball career for one reason - I played the game exactly the way Dean Ford taught me to play it. Everything that I did was fundamentally correct. And because of that, I performed at a college level with limited physical talent. My college success was fundamentally sound because I did everything exactly as he had told me to do it.

How do we teach someone to obey?

Jesus taught us to obey by being personally obedient to The Father. He modeled it. He demonstrated it to the very point of His death on a cross.

These disciples were very average men who became pivotal players in the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ by being obedient to Jesus. They did "everything He commanded them". Therefore, they became much more effective than they should have been because they did life and ministry just like Jesus told them.

They learned obedience by obeying what God told them to do. And they achieved more with their lives than they would have without obeying Jesus. Living and serving as Jesus had showed them to do it allowed them to change the world.

It wasn't so much that they changed the world but it was the power of Jesus working through their obedience.

So, how do we get others to become obedient followers of Jesus? What do we have to "do" to teach them to obey? Simple! Obey!

God's vision for evangelizing the world included our obedience allowing His power and grace to flow through us!

Embrace the fundamentals of obedient service and play at a much higher level than you ever envisioned!