March 19, 2013

"He that has ears to hear, let him hear"' Matthew 11:15

Let me ask you a question. "If the Word of God fell near you in the woods, would you hear it?"

 

This variation of the "if a tree fell in the woods" question actually has a serious point. It is very important to learn to listen to God. I am sure you would agree. But do you know how to listen to God?

 

Hear what God says.

 

Read His Word and listen for His voice. Spending regular time reading and studying the Bible is a primary way of hearing God speak.

 

Listen to the preaching of the Word and the teaching of the Word on a frequent basis.

 

Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of God."

God's Word is the only way to build a life on a foundation of truth. But that is only possible if you are hearing it.

Hear what God says to you.

As important as it is to hear the truth of God's Word, it is even more important to hear the truth specifically applied to your life and your situation.  That is the function of the Holy Spirit and the purpose of the Word.

Hear what God says you should do.

James says, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." James 1:22

When Jesus prefaced His teachings with, "He that has hears to hear, let Him hear" He is not just suggesting they listen, He is telling them to hear it AND obey what it specifically says to them!

If listening to God doesn't result in living for God then you haven't really heard His Word. Listening to God involves hearing what He says, hearing what He says to you, and hearing what you should do - and then doing it!

Are you listening to God?
 

 

March 18, 2013

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." I John 4:10

One way the need for significance manifests itself in 2018 is the phenomenon known as "social networking". Millions are texting or tweeting or posting on Facebook. Essentially, they are saying, "Notice me!" or "Let me know I matter!" or "Make me feel significant!"

The more friends you have or the more tweets you get the more accepted you feel. you want to be known and know you matter. I contend that the wild popularity of these social networks is fueled by the fear of not mattering.

I am sure God is beyond fear, BUT if He would have a fear I believe it would be the fear that He would not matter to us. He needs for you to recognize His significance. It is in your best interest as well as His.

So, God texted you! Yes, He did! He sent His Commandments through His servant, Moses! He made it clear what matters to Him. He showed you what should matter to you!

Next, God tweeted us! Through His Prophets and His Patriarchs He inspired the great Scriptures of the Old Testament to let us know what He was doing and what He was planning to do in the future. He did not want you to miss what He was doing in our behalf.

Finally, He posted on Facebook! Yes, He did! He sent His Son, Jesus - the God-man - to allow you to get a look at His profile. He wanted us to know what He looks like and what He loves. By posting His picture in the portrait of Jesus, God revealed His nature and His heart. He wanted to know you and to be known by you!

One way you can know you are significant to God is to understand through Scripture just how badly He wants to matter to you! He is the One Who created you and is the only One Who can recreate you into His image!

When you decide to let God know how much He matters to you, then you will begin to understand how much you matter to Him.

March 17, 2013

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

We are heading into the yard sale season. If you haven't done a yard sale, you may not relate to this article but for the other 99.99% of us, you know that the hardest part is tagging all the items with a price. The first 1,000 items you tend to estimate a little high because you know the hard-core yard salers will haggle the price anyway. But, after several hours of assigning value to items you don't value enough to keep, you reach a point where you stop caring and just start slapping price stickers on stuff.

Similarly, when the day of the sale comes you start the day with high hopes trying to hold the line against the bargain-hunters who show up seeking treasure among your trinkets. But as the day wears on and you still have piles of stuff, you come to the realization that your stuff is only worth what people are willing to pay for it. The thought of having to pick up all the remaining items and put them away somewhere causes you to begin throwing stuff into bags or boxes and selling them enmass for less than you sold stuff individually earlier in the day.

A day spent doing a yard sale may be the best education in economics that you could have. You learn that the ultimate value of something is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it.

As you struggle to find your own sense of significance and value, that same principle applies. You are worth what someone is willing to pay for you. So, be really careful who you allow to slap a price tag on you.

If you try to determine your own value or if you give that power to other people, you will spend your life bargaining and pleading and always feeling cheated or undervalued. You will find wild fluctuations in your value from day to day.

The way to know how much you are really worth is to understand the price that was paid for you! God bought you with the life blood of His own Son, Jesus. That means that He places equal value on you as He does His Son! That is the price tag He placed on you.

God thinks you matter! You are significant to Him! Why not accept His estimate? Why would you continue to under value yourself? Why sell yourself to the lowest bidder?

March 16, 2013

"Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” Mark 10:22

 

Notice the question asked by the young man. "What shall I do that I might inherit eternal life?"

 

When you ask Jesus a question that important you had better be ready for an honest answer.

 

Jesus identified one thing this young man lacked - love. The five commandments Jesus quoted to this fellow all have to do with loving others.

 

Essentially, Jesus told him, "You must sell out and give up in order to get in."

 

"Selling out" requires:

 

1) Sell whatever you have

 

2) Give it to the poor

 

3) Come (to Jesus)

 

4) Take up the cross

 

5) Follow Me

 

Inheriting eternal life then, requires selling all, giving to needy, coming to Jesus, dying to self and become a follower.

 

You cannot have eternal life without following Christ, And you can't follow Christ unless you die to self. And you won't die to self if you love your wealth more than you love God. You can't buy your way to Heaven but you can sell your way there!

 

Sell out, give up and you can get in!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 15, 2013

"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24

 

Christian researcher George Barna concludes, "American Christianity has largely failed since the middle of the 20th century because modern-day followers do not act much like Jesus." Research conducted by sociologists and pollsters shows that "evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered and sexually as immoral as the world in general."

 

Could it be that in our attempts to relate to our culture we have ended up resembling it?

 

2,000 years ago, Jesus anticipated this likelihood. Of his 38 parables He told, 16 were concerned with how to handle  and possessions. As a matter of fact, Christ said more about money than any other subject. The Bible includes 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 on faith but over 2,350 verses pertaining to money and possessions. The Lord said  a lot about it because He wants us to know how He views this important topic.

 

To measure how you compare with Jesus' perspective on materialism, ask yourself these questions:

 

* Do I see other people's stuff and become critical or bored with my own?

* Do I shop for recreation?

* Do I buy compulsively (because I feel like it) without first considering my budget or my need?

* Do I complain a lot about how much I make?

* Do I feel self-conscious when I am around rich people?

* Do I give less than 10% of my income to the ministry of my church?

* Do I get irritated when the preacher talks about money?

 

Jesus declared you can't serve God and materialism. Only one will be your god.

 

A serious, humble and honest evaluation of those probing questions will reveal the truth of whom you serve.

 

 

 

March 14, 2013

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33

Here are some excerpts from Skye Jethani's book "The Divine Commodity":

We Americans are CONSUMED with the CONSUMER mentality! We’re used to choosing whatever gives us the most "perks and bennies" at any given time.

We look for a restaurant with the best price and menu and atmosphere and location. We go to the clothing store that carries our size, has our taste in clothes, and has the best sales. And if we can’t find that in town, we shop online! We want to get our groceries at the place that's close to home with the best prices, best selection and that's not crowded. (Good luck with that!)

A lot of people take that same mentality with them when it comes to choosing a church. In fact, we even call it "church shopping."

If we have little kids, we look for a church with a great kids program. If we don’t have kids, we find a church that doesn’t have a bunch of noisy kids disturbing us.

We look for a building that is simple but not shabby, comfortable but not ostentatious, colorful but subdued, cool in summer and warm in winter, and most of all, already paid for so we don’t have to give to a building fund! (By the way, our building IS paid for, praise the Lord! But don’t get too excited, I’m sure we’ll be starting a building fund soon.)

We want the music enthusiastic but not too loud, energetic but not too fast, contemporary but traditional, soothing but exciting.

We want the preacher to be youthful but not too young, relevant but not trendy, spiritual but down-to-earth, funny but full of gravitas...and most of all, able to give a life-changing message in 20 minutes or less!

And if anything stops meeting our expectations, then before you know it, we’re off "church shopping" again!

But the Church was never meant to serve the consumer mentality. The church is unique in that it is not about serving US, it's about us serving OTHERS. In the church, we are more focused on reaching the non-member than the member...the non-attender than the attender...the seeker rather than the already found-er...the newcomer rather than the insider, the desperately lost rather than the comfortably saved.

 

Are you caught up in consumerism or are you centered in the cause of Christ?

 

March 13, 2013

"And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there: the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."  Job 1:21
 

Popular syndicated radio talk-show host, Rush Limbaugh often leads into a new segment of his show with the declaration, "Talent on loan from God!".

In my opinion, Rush says that partially because he believes it but mostly because it irritates liberals.

Whether you like Rush or not he is right on this one! You and I and everything we have IS on loan from God! Billy Graham once said, "There are no U-Haul trailers behind a hearse."
 
No one can argue with that obvious truth and no one knows that better than Job. Job had a lot of stuff and lost a lost of stuff but he never lost his faith in God.

So how is it that Job could lose so much so suddenly and so unfairly and still trust God? How was he able to keep such a positive perspective in response to such pain?

The answer is in his answer, "God gave it all so God can take it all back! Bless God!" That was his version of, "It's all on loan from God". Can you dispute that? I can't! Is there the slightest flaw in that logic? I don't think so!

You can only have that attitude if you are free of two other attitudes I battle and I'm sure you struggle with as well.

One attitude is, "I am owed."

When you have been blessed as extravagantly as Job was it is easy to lapse into the attitude, "I deserve this" which is another version of, "You owed me" which is another version of "I earned this". Any of those manifestations is the same attitude of entitlement which can lead to become possessive of the stuff loaned to us by God.

Job was free of that attitude. Are you?

A second attitude is, "I own."

Job could have made the argument that he had worked hard to amass all of his substantial wealth. He probably did. But I he didn't cling to ownership.

Job could have attached his manly ego and self-worth to his extensive wealth. But he didn't.

How do I know that he didn't?

I know because of how Job reacted when it was all taken away. If he had attached significance to his wealth and if he become emotionally connected to it he would have reacted much differently when it was taken away. He would have become angry and resentful when he lost it suddenly. However, I see no evidence of those reactions.

Are you attached emotionally with your money and your material possessions?

Why not remind yourself as you begin this day that yourself and everything you have is on loan from God? Why not offer yourself and all you claim as your own to Him?