May 2009

Monthly Archive

May 22, 2009

Right but Wrong

Posted by Jessie under knowing God
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Right but Wrong
 

Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to one hope when you were called- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 

 
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 
Romans 15:1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.  5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.  

 

I think it’s human nature that we always want to believe that we are right.  And surely in nearly every situation there is one side the is right and one that is wrong, specifically in terms of what’s right before the Lord.  But, consider this:  Do you realize that it’s possible to be “right” about something but, at the same time, be completely wrong?
 
What am I talking about?  Well, you can have the completely right answer, perspective, etc. but in your zealousness to be right and prove your “rightness”, you can be totally unrighteous (righteous = right before God). Consider this:  the Pharisees were very right in many ways in their zealousness for the laws of God.  And, God loves His laws, they were made for our God.  You would think that those who were fully committed to it would be fully pleasing to the Lord, right?  But, as we know, some of Jesus’ strongest words of rebuke were for these guys!  So, what was the issue?  The heart!  They were right but they missed the heart of God in the whole thing!  They dealt harshly with those who “fell short” and lacked love!!   THIS one thing made them completely wrong!!
 
So, what does this mean to us in light of these Scriptures? 
 
God’s not as concerned about us being right as He is that our HEART is right.  The testing question is:  Is God’s love your motivation?  Are you showing love in how you deal with that person/situation?
 
We could move mountains, raise the dead, heal the sick, and die a martyr . . .  but if we have not love, it means NOTHING (see I Corinthians 13).
 
Our goal should always be love.  Love for God and love for others. 
 
Let us remember this in how we deal with our spouses when we disagree.
Let us remember this when our children disobey or disappoint us.
Let us remember this when a brother or sister is in sin. 
Let’s remember this when we don’t see eye to eye.
We should think about this in our politics and our response to leaders.
 
Love covers a multitude of sin.
Love has the power to transform.
 
Let your gentleness be evident to all. Pbilipians 4:5.      

 

 

-Jessie 
 

 

May 14, 2009

Holy and Dearly Loved

Posted by Jessie under knowing God
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Colossians 3:   

The Word of God is so RICH!  I truly is living and active.  When our hearts and spirits are open to it, there is SO much to receive from it!  It transforms us, makes us new, conforms us to the image of Christ, for Christ IS the Living Word!!
 
Let’s take a look at this passage from Colossians 3.
 
1.  We are CHOSEN, HOLY and DEARLY LOVED.  Do you know that this is your identity?
 
-We are CHOSEN.  God saw fit to pick us as the object of His affection.  He loves us!
-As He chosen us, and in the choosing, He has made us HOLY — we are purified, set apart, made for something very beautiful and special.  We have been given His transcendence. 
-We are DEARLY loved.  We are cherished by God, not just “tolerated”.  We are dear to His heart!  Let that blow your mind!  God is in love with you!  Every moment of every day!!
 
How do we respond to this great calling and this great love?
 
2.  We clothe ourselves, i.e., we MAKE A CHOICE, to be:
-compassionate
-kind
-humble
-gentle
-patient
 
These things don’t always come naturally to us.  But, we are called in this identity as God’s people to be LIKE HIM and choose to act as He does.  Obviously, these are fruits of the Holy Spirit in us (see Galatians 5).  In other words, we cannot produce them on our own.  However, since we have the Spirit living in us, we HAVE the ability to be all of these things, but we get to CHOOSE to act according to the Spirit or according to our own nature in every situation.  The Spirit will not overtake us and make us act the way He desires.  We make a choice to choose Him.
 
3.  Bear with one anothers’ weaknesses and forgive whatever grievances you have…
-this is huge.  We are so prone to hold grudges and judge others for their faults.  But, we ALL have fault, we all have lack!  And this is why we all must choose to operate in those fruits of the spirit.  We ALL need a little kindness, don’t we?
 
4. PUT ON Love.
-Again this is a choice.  Love is the very nature of God!  And, we HAVE BEEN GIVEN His nature!  The divine nature lives within us!!
 
5.  Let PEACE rule in your heart.
-Sounds like we get to choose…. hmmm.
We can LET peace rule in us, or we can let something else rule our hearts….
 
6.  BE THANKFUL!!!
in every situation
 
7.  Let the Word dwell in you richly.
 
Tim shared a great message on this last Sunday. :)  
 

May we put on Christ and bear abundant fruit today. 

 

-Jessie      
 

May 7, 2009

Running and Waiting

Posted by Jessie under knowing God
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Isaiah 40

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
       and complain, O Israel,
       “My way is hidden from the LORD;
       my cause is disregarded by my God”?  
28 Do you not know?
       Have you not heard?
       The LORD is the everlasting God,
       the Creator of the ends of the earth.
       He will not grow tired or weary,
       and his understanding no one can fathom.  
29 He gives strength to the weary
       and increases the power of the weak.  
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
       and young men stumble and fall;  
31 but those who wait on the LORD
       will renew their strength.
       They will soar on wings like eagles;
       they will run and not grow weary,
       they will walk and not be faint. 

I Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 

 
Hebrews 12:

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 
 
How often do we find ourselves in the place of complaining, thinking God is far from us.  We think he has forsaken us.  We think “surely He’s not interested/concerned in my little life”.  As Isaiah quotes, we feel that our “cause has been disregarded” by Him.  Surely God has more important items on His to-do list than our little, insignificant lives . . .surely He gets wearied with our asking and failing . . right? 
 
“Do you not know?  Have you not heard?”  He NEVER gets tired of you!  Your “cause”, your life, are not outside of His thoughts.  He knows and understands COMPLETELY every detail!  And, YES, He CARES!!  Even better still — when you feel weak and weary, HE is the One who wants to give you STRENGTH!   He wants to empower you to keep going!  It’s not a vacation you need, or that one “thing” that you don’t have that you wish you had.  It’ HIM you need! 
 
There’s a race set before us, and we are ALL called to run!  This “race” = the focused determination to make the most of every moment of this life, in light of Eternity.  Every one is on the track ,and we MUST run.  This is not a turkey trot run/walk thing.  It’s not a shotgun sprint, either.  We are called to give our all to run after the Lord, loving Him and serving Him.  No one gets to opt out and walk, thinking, “well, those others are running, I’m not needed”.  But, blasting out of the gate as hard as you possibly can, only to burn out a little way down the road won’t cut it either.
 
We are running to WIN.  And that means a marathon pace; steady, determined, focused, efficient, persevering steps.  We’re not stopping or slowing down until we reach the finish line; i.e. the end of our natural life or the return of Christ (whichever comes first). 
 
However, our spiritual fervor — our passion and desire to serve God — does not come from us.  It comes from God.  As it has been said, “it takes God to love God”.  In our own strength, we tend to run out of steam eventually.  We get tired.  We have weak moments.  But, we’re not called to run this race by our own power.  We are called to be fueled with power from on High.  It’s a supernatural strength that causes us to NEVER grow weak or weary!  And, it’s for EVERYONE, the old, the young, the rich, the poor, the minister, the housewife, the student the doctor, the sales clerk, etc. 
 
The only way we will continue to run AND win is by waiting on the Lord. 
 
Seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it?  If we’re called to give our all for His sake, what business to we have sitting around “waiting” on the Lord?
 
Well, think of this way:  If you want to get to work, run your errands, visit friends, and do all the things you have to do in life,… you have to actually stop and put gas in your car, right?  Right! 
 
For anyone to live a life pleasing to the Lord and to fulfill His purposes for their life; to make the most of every moment and every opportunity — we must spend time in His Presence — in worship, prayer, Bible study, talking to God, singing to Him, listening to the voice of the Spirit.  There is NO way around it.  Otherwise, your running on fumes and you’ve got no power, though you may look ok on the outside and even go through the motions of life just fine.  You will be accomplishing nothing — perhaps still “on” the track, but going nowhere.     
 
Imagine yourself a waiter at a fine restaurant.  The Father is your guest.  You approach His table and ask what you can get for Him.  And He says, “Have a seat.  Let’s hang out for a while.  I’ve got some great things for you to do, but there’s no way you can do them.  If you spend this time with me, though, you’ll find a miraculous, supernatural deposit on the inside that will enable you to do this impossible!”  Not only that, He pays you really well, and is a good tipper! ;)   I would take a seat if I were you!

 
-Jessie