May 17, 2018

"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."  Hebrews 12:14

"Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord."  Hebrews 12:14 (Amplified)

Holiness is hard!

Look at the two main verbs in this verse "strive" and "pursue". Those are extra effort type words. They require energy and determination - and desire.

What is holiness and why is it so hard?

Well, the "what it is" is "why it is" so hard.

Holiness is consecrating yourself to God, as the Amplified renders it. Consecrate means that I set myself apart from my selfish desires, my selfish ambitions, my sinful past and give myself completely to God for the purpose of being made holy by Him. You or I cannot make ourselves holy, we can only repent of our sins and renounce sin to give ourselves unreservedly to God so He can make us holy by the cleansing of His blood and the indwelling of His Spirit.

Holiness refers to the condition of your heart in relationship to God. Holy people love God with all their heart and all of their mind. Holiness allows the Holy Spirit to take up residence in your heart empowering you to overcome temptation and sin.

Holiness purifies your motives so that whatever you do is fueled by love (for God and for others). Holiness is being able to fulfill the Great Commandment by loving God and loving others as yourself.

In this verse holiness is equated with peace. You cannot be holy with God while you live in turmoil with others.

So, holiness is difficult because it requires being reconciled on two levels of relationship - holy with God and at peace with men. That doesn't happen automatically. It doesn't happen accidentally. You have to "strive" against your selfish nature and you must "pursue" God's nature.

But holiness is necessary and required of those who desire to see God - Who also happens to be holy.

Holiness really matters! Does it matter to you?

Are you pursuing holiness?

Are you making every effort to live peaceably?

Are you prepared to see God?

Fireproof Faith

"........the God we serve is able to deliver us......" Daniel 3:17

What can you expect from God? That has been the question we are considering for several weeks. There are probably not enough enough weeks in a lifetime to fully answer the question, but so far we have several:

• When God puts a giant in front of you, expect Him to demonstrate His giant power.

• When He puts a giant in front of you expect Him to raise up the giant within you.

• When He raises up the giant within you expect Him to raise up giants around you.

• Expect joy from God as you celebrate your salvation.

• Expect joy from God as you share your salvation.

• You can expect that when God leads you into trouble He will bring you out.

In this week's message you will learn that you can expect if you stand for God and take the heat, God will stand with you!

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood for God against the king and faced the heat. In so doing they demonstrated a fireproof faith!

What is a fireproof faith? How did they develop it?

Fireproof Faith Is Relationship

Sometimes people say that they have a faith or they belong to a certain faith and others claim they have faith.

To clarify, I will say that faith is more than:

- A Concept

Faith contains a lot of big ideas but just believing in a big idea is not what fireproof faith is made of. You may believe that there is a God and that He sent His Son, Jesus to be a Savior. But a simple intellectual acceptance of that concept is not what constitutes faith. Demons believe in God and Christ, but what does that faith do for them?

- A Creed

A well organized system of beliefs can be referred to as a "Faith". For instance, the Catholic faith has a creed they expect their adherents to accept.

Creeds are valuable and useful to define a doctrinal system. But fireproof faith does not arise from a creed.

Concepts and creeds are important components of a belief system. They can aid in the development and definition of faith, but fireproof faith requires much more than head knowledge.

Faith is:

- A Connection

Fireproof faith begins with a personal spiritual connection with God through accepting Christ as your Savior. As Romans says, "His Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God. '

- A Commitment

Fireproof faith grows out of a commitment of your love and your loyalty to Jesus Christ. After making the spiritual connection with Christ, you then commit to giving Him first place in your life and living in obedience to His Word and His will. Commitment is what you give to God in exchange for what He has given you through Christ.

- A Communion

Additionally, fireproof faith arises out of a close personal faith Christ through the Holy Spirit. Communion is the intimate personal relationship that a converted Christ-follower enjoys and maintains through obedient living. Communion is the strong spritiual connection between God's spirit and yours.

For the person of faith, communion happens through prayer, through reading and studying the Word, and through worship.

These three Hebrew children understood that the most important priority for them as followers of Jehovah, the only true God, was to know God through personal intimate spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ, the on of God.

You were created for fellowship with God and God's people. That fellowship comes from a spiritual connection with God and a spiritual commitment to Him. Connection with God is the starting point of faith. Anything short of that spiritual connection with Jesus is NOT faith.'

If there is no spiritual relationship with God, there is no faith!

How is your faith relationship? Do you know God in a personal spiritual connection? Are you in the Word? Are you praying regularly?

May 15, 2018

I think we tend to underestimate the power of our personal testimony.

Let me encourage you to rethink that.Consider these two verses from Revelation 12:10-11: 

"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."

This depicts a victory celebration in heaven after the enemy has been defeated. How was the enemy defeated? 

They defeated the enemy by the blood of Jesus and by the bold saints who declared their faith in the Lord even under the threat of death.

It is the blood of Jesus that has purchased our victory and it is our fearless declaration of our faith that cashes the check!

The enemy has no defense against the cross because the cross paid the price of redemption from sin. And the enemy has no defense when those who have been redeemed by the blood declare it with their words. He was defeated by the cross on Calvary and every time a Christ-follower declares his salvation the enemy is reminded of his defeat.

Your testimony came at a great cost to God. Don't demean or diminish it's worth.

You may not think your testimony is powerful but the enemy does! Every time you praise your God and declare your salvation he has to flee!

Your testimony tells of a life that has been transformed by the power of God! The enemy hates that!

Don't minimize your testimony!

Organize your testimony in this form: my life before I knew Christ, how I came to know Christ and how my life has changed since I have been a Christian. Use that outline and keep it about three minutes long.

Memorize your testimony and be prepared to share it. 

Energize your heart by humbly walking with God in the power of His Spirit.

You have a winning testimony! 

May 14, 2018

"Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them,  coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long. Then Moses stretched out his handover the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,   and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left."  Exodus 14:19-21

It would be nice if leadership was always full speed ahead! If a leader could start at point A and get his people to point B on a straight line, everyone would sign up for duty.

But, as Moses demonstrated, there are times in leadership when you have to wait on God or wait on your people. Then there are times when you watch for signs or trends to see where God is moving, And then there are those wonderful times when you get to walk and lead your people forward.

A good leader, a godly leader, knows when to wait, how to watch, and when to walk. And, he understands that each situation is a part of the leadership experience and is at peace with it.

Moses refused to move until he had a clear direction from God. Waiting times are some of the best times to develop faith because during those times you are asked to believe God is working in your behalf despite obvious proof to substantiate it. In the case of Moses and the Israelites, the period of waiting was the time God used to set up the Egyptians for their ultimate defeat. And so, you could also say that He was setting them up for victory.

While he was waiting, Moses was watching for evidence of God's movement. When he saw the pillar of cloud and fire move from before the Israelites to behind them, that was his sign God was moving for them. Good leaders are always watching for the hand of God to know when it is time to stop waiting and start walking.

Finally, a good leader is ready and has his people ready when it is time to start walking! After some anxious waiting and astute watching the moment came to walk to their deliverance. Moses led them through the sea to the safety of the other shore some 10 miles across.

Walking too soon can disqualify a leader. Waiting too long can cost a leader his opportunity. And watching when he should be walking will cost a leader the confidence of his followers.

Leadership is a science and it is an art. Good leaders know each.

If you are a leader, study this lesson closely and consider it carefully. 

Which time is it in your leadership? 

Is it waiting time? Is it watching time? 

Is it time to walk?

May 13, 2018 - MOTHER"S DAY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Several years ago I did a series during May entitled "Games People Play". This is the message I preached on Mother's Day.

The game I chose for this day was “Aggravation”. Why did I pick this particular game to speak about on Mother’s Day? Because this game requires the players to move four marbles around a game board from their home base to a home on the other side of the board.

That reminds me of motherhood! Mothers have a lot of marbles that there are trying to move from one home to the next – while trying not to lose their marbles in the process! What marbles am I talking about?

THE ME MARBLE - THE MARRIAGE MARBLE - THE MOTHERHOOD MARBLE AND - THE MAKING A LIVING MARBLE

How do you move those marbles, get them all home and not lose your marbles?

They will all fit if you put them in the proper order. To do that you must add one more marble – THE MASTER MARBLE

THE MASTER MARBLE – “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…

COMMIT TO HIS WILL – For You, For Marriage, For Motherhood, For Career

COMMIT TO HIS WORD – Let it be a lamp and a light

COMMIT TO HIS WAY – Live Out His Will And His Word

COMMIT TO HIS WISDOM – For Marriage, For Motherhood

THE ME MARBLE – PLAY THE MASTER MARBLE FIRST….

ELIZABETH CORCORAN shares this experience: Four – year old Sara, had asked to pray before our breakfast this morning. That is quite typical of her. I think it's more her penchant to take charge than her avid spiritual growth as of yet. But I happily obliged as it still does something to my heart to hear that little girl of mine talk to our Heavenly Father. She started off per usual. Thank You for mommy, thank You for daddy, thank You for Jack. Then she added, and thank You for me.She has yet to come across that place in life where you feel silly or full of yourself in bringing any sort of attention to who you are as a person. As adults, we'd probably be a bit taken aback to hear a fellow pray-er at our Bible study thank God for herself. But if you think about…I think the situation is less that she hasn't quite learned prayer etiquette, and more that she may know more than we as grown-ups do. Why not thank God for ourselves? He made us as much as He made the other people we thank Him for. We have as much value as those other people do. And I bet, if we began to sprinkle our prayers every now and then with a small "thank you for me," I just bet we'd start to see our value though His eyes. And that wouldn't be such a bad thing.She then moved on to the rest of her list of thanks. Sara has not yet progressed much past the thanksgiving kind of prayers. She doesn't ask God for anything. She doesn't confess much either. (That will need to come…) She just thanks Him. And today, I noticed exactly what she was thanking Him for. She went through her routine of thanking Him for breakfast and her pretty clothes, saying, "Thank You that I'm beautiful again today" (no self-esteem issues with this little girl). Now, I'm sure she wasn't hoping to teach me some huge theological lesson in that moment…but wow, did she ever. What if I stopped, just for a day even, asking God for stuff? Asking Him to fix things in my life? Asking Him to change this or that circumstance? What if--what if I just thanked Him for all of my situations as is? How might my life be different? How might I see God and my current status differently…if instead of complaining to Him or asking Him for a quick-fix, I just rested where I was at that moment…searching for His hand and for any lesson I could glean…and thanked Him for it? Maybe I'll just have to find out. – TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF

THE MARRIAGE MARBLE – Next Play The Marriage Marble

I heard of a couple who, as they were paying for groceries in the check-out line, were discussing their soon to be 50th wedding anniversary, when the young cashier interjected by saying, "I can’t imagine being married to same man for 50 years!" The wife wisely replied, teaching the young girl a lesson at the same time, "Well, Honey, don’t get married until you can."

"Rules of Male-Female Relationships" 1. The Female always makes the Rules. 2. The Rules are subject to change at any time without prior notification. 3. No Male can possibly know all the Rules. 4. If the Female suspects the Male knows all the Rules, she must immediately change some or all of the Rules. 5. The Female is never wrong. 6. If the Female is wrong, it is because of a flagrant Misunderstanding, which was a direct result of something the Male did or said wrong. 7. If Rule 6 applies, the Male must apologize IMMEDIATELY for causing the Misunderstanding. 8. The Female can change her mind at any given point in time. 9. The Male must never change his mind without express written consent from the Female. 10. The Female has every right to be angry or upset at any time. 11. The Male must remain calm at all times, unless the Female wants him to be angry or upset. 12. The Female must under no circumstances let the Male know whether or not she wants him to be angry or upset. 13. Any attempt to document these Rules could result in bodily harm to the Male.

Recently, a survey was made of 200 married adults in regards to forgiveness The researchers were wondering how one’s ability to forgive others would affect their marital satisfaction and personal well-being. The results were astounding! This research suggests that there is a huge relationship between marriage satisfaction and forgiveness. In fact, it appears that as much as one third of marriage satisfaction is related to forgiveness. Not only does the ability to forgive impact the marriage relationship, it was significantly related to personal emotional distress. As forgiveness ability went up, individuals reported fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fatigue! These results are powerful and suggest that all counselors, both secular and faith-based, should be helping people develop the skill of forgiveness.

Gary Thomas commented, "I don’t believe couples fall out of love—they fall out of repentance."

The secret of successful marriage is to strive for the perfect 16 – 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer…..

MOTHERHOOD MARBLE – Best Thing To Do For You Kids Is Love Their Dad

My mother taught me RELIGION: When I spilled grape juice on the carpet, she instructed, "You better pray the stain will come out of the carpet." My mother taught me LOGIC: From her decisive words, "Because I said so, that’s why." My mother taught me FORESIGHT: "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident." My mother taught me IRONY: "Keep laughing, and I’ll give you something to cry about." My mother taught me about STAMINA: "You’ll sit there ’til all that spinach is finished." My mother taught me about WEATHER: "It looks as if a tornado swept through your room." My mother taught me THE CIRCLE OF LIFE: "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out." My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION: "Stop acting like your father!"

One of my favorite columns by Erma Bombeck tells of God in the act of creating mothers. She says that on the day God created mothers He had already worked long overtime. And an angel said to Him, "Lord, you sure are spending a lot of time on this one." The Lord turned and said, "Have you read the specs on this model? She is supposed to be completely washable, but not plastic. She is to have 180 moving parts, all of them replaceable. She is to have a kiss that will heal everything from a broken leg to a broken heart. She is to have a lap that will disappear whenever she stands up. She is to be able to function on coffee & leftovers. And she is supposed to have six pairs of hands."Six pairs of hands," said the angel, "that’s impossible." "It’s not the six pairs of hands that bother me." said the Lord, "It’s the three pairs of eyes. She is supposed to have one pair that sees through closed doors so that whenever she says, `What are you kids doing in there?’ she already knows what they’re doing in there." "She has another pair in the back of her head to see all the things she is not supposed to see but must see. And then she has one pair right in front that can look at a child that just goofed and communicate love and understanding without saying a word.""That’s too much." said the angel, "You can’t put that much in one model. Why don’t you rest for a while and resume your creating tomorrow?""No, I can’t," said the Lord. "I’m close to creating someone very much like myself. I’ve already come up with a model who can heal herself when she is sick - who can feed a family of six with one pound of hamburger - and; who can persuade a nine year old to take a shower.""Can she think?" asked the angel. "Not only can she think," said the Lord, "but she can reason and; compromise and; persuade."Then the angel looked at the model of motherhood a little more closely and said, "She’s too soft." "Oh, but she is tough," said the Lord. "You’d be surprised at how much this mother can do."Then the angel reached over and touched her cheek. "This one has a leak," he said. "I told you that you couldn’t put that much in one model." "That’s not a leak," said the Lord. "That’s a tear.""What’s a tear for?" asked the angel. "Well it’s for joy, for sadness, for sorrow, for disappointment, for pride." "You’re a genius," said the angel. And the Lord said, "Oh, but I didn’t put it there.

"MAKING A LIVING MARBLE 

Organize and Plan: Make the most of your time 

Delegate: Share the load Develop a Support System: Family, Friends, Church 

Set Realistic Expectations: Big Rocks First!

Take Care of Yourself: Sharpen The Axe!

You CAN move all your marbles and get them home - without losing your marbles! But you must know which marbles to move and the order in which to move them!

May 12, 2018

I found this thought today and wanted to share Mother's Day "by the Book".

What does the Bible say about moms? Here are some Bible quotes you can use for inspirational greeting cards, personal devotions, or preparing a Bible study/sermon about Mother’s Day. Each of these scriptures about mothers are quoted from the ESV translation.

Motherhood Before the Fall

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.". (Genesis 2:24-25 ESV)

Sons Should Follow their Mother’s Teaching

"My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you." (Proverbs 6:20-22 ESV)

Mother’s Must Correct their Children

The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. (Proverbs 29:15 ESV)

Children Must Honor their Mother (and Father)

“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:2-4 ESV)

Timothy’s Mother as Faith Example

"I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well."  (2 Timothy 1:5 ESV)

Jesus Provided for His Mother Before He Died

"When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home." (John 19:26-27 ESV)

Warning to Provide for Your Aged Mother

"Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1 Timothy 5:3-7; 1 Timothy 5:8 ESV)

Women Who Believe are Like Mothers to Jesus

While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50 ESV)

God bless our mothers who do it by the Book!

Hedge Builders

“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:27

A Proverbs 31 woman makes guarding her family a top priority. She watches over her family like a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings. And, she builds hedges of protection around each family member.

Over the past two days we have been examining several of those hedges virtuous women build around their family members. They are:

1) Hedges of Prayer

2) Hedges of Personal Relationships

3) Hedges of Principles

4) Hedges of Patterns

5) Hedges of Partnership

6) Hedges of Penalties

7) Hedges of Privileges.

Please allow me to share three more.

Hedges of Pictures

What do I mean by "hedges of pictures"?

I am talking about creating memories that will last in the heart and mind of each child raised by a Virtuous woman. If a child grows up with fond memories and many happy mental images he will not only be healthier but harder to tempt with evil.

Memories and mental images are great but it is also good to document every important event with pictures. You just can't have too many pictures!

Hedges of Pals

A mother who guards her family diligently and closely will be very interested in what sort of people her baby is spending time with. "Watching over the affairs of her household" includes screening the friends of your kids. A virtuous woman will know about the friends of her children.

Looking back on the friends that my mother didn't care for, in retrospect, she was right on every one of them.

Hedges of Pride

I know what you're thinking, but there is a good type of pride!

A friend of mine played football for a high school that had a storied tradition for winning football championships. He recalls that when he first made the team and they gave him his jersey they said something like this, "This the the #5 jersey. And they proceeded to remind him of all the great players in the past who had worn that jersey and what honors they had won."

That is an example of what I am talking about. Build a tradition and a heritage around your family. I remind my children and grandchildren what it means to be a Snyder and what Snyders believe. I want my family to be strong on their identity and embrace it.

So, here are three more hedges that godly mothers build around the hearts and minds and souls of their children.

If you have a mother or wife who is a hedge builder, honor her well!