Be the right giver!

Matthew 14: 3

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard.

She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Do you know that there are two types of givers in the church?

One type needs a reason to give, whereas some only need a revelation to give.

Reason givers are those who are controlled by their mind. It must make sense for them to write a check for the work of God.

These are the people who normally ask their banker or accountants how much to give.

Revelation givers on the other hand, consult with the Holy Spirit on how much to give.

Revelation givers, give with the Kingdom of God in mind.

They realize who their full supply comes from, and they don’t ever question, when God asks them to give something up.

Just be sure you know this…Whenever we do something extreme in the way of giving God something, there will always be naysayers.

Judas yelled out in opposition, when Mary broke this expensive box of perfume. He could’ve really cared less about the poor.

Be sure you don’t forget this either…It is God Almighty who gives us the power to get wealth, and to give wealth.

Jesus actually said…“Give and it shall be given unto you..”

God always has our best interests in mind. You do know that He gave us His best, when He gave us His Son, Jesus?

I wonder how often do we give Him our best?

Know your enemy!

1 Peter 5: 8

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The reason that so many people get eaten alive by the devil, is because they don’t even know their enemy.

The names of the devil, give a clear indication of his all encompassing activity.

He’s called the tempter—the accuser—and the deceiver.

The spirit behind his heightened prowling these days, is the spirit of rebellion.

God controls the spirit realm of holiness, with the spirit of authority.

The devil controls the everyday functions of so many people, with the spirit of rebellion and lawlessness.

Did you know that you can find the devil’s spirit in, rap music—country/western music—and rock and roll?

His spirit is also dominant in many movies, and is also many well known in many novels.

Yup—especially one’s written about mysticisms, werewolves’ and blood thirsty vampires.

Frankly, the youth of this country (USA) are easy targets, and provide nourishing meals for the devil.

They’re really pretty easy game. Actually, so are many adults.

In the Garden of Eden, it was an endless array of untouchable fruit.

In our country today, it’s a wide range of scheming that produces false belief’s—and perversion of moral depravity.

Spiritual destruction is seen in billboards—televisions—computers—video games, music, movies and magazines.

Satan is so good at what he does, he doesn’t even have to exert all that much effort anymore…

God Pleaser!

Galatians 1: 10

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

The question that the Apostle Paul was trying to get an answer for was…”What is my true earthly purpose?

He wanted to be sure he was a God pleaser and not a people pleaser.

You can either bring honor and glory to God, which pleases God—or you can be in love with the world—which the Father hates by the way.

Did you know we make that choice on a daily basis?

On Sunday morning’s, many people have the desire to please themselves, and so they stay at home, instead of going to church and worshipping God.

Did you stop to think this morning, that we are on this earth on a very temporary basis?

Just ask the person whose 80 years old, and they’ll tell you just how temporary that time is.

We’re supposed to have an absolute allegiance to God, and the world should not satisfy us in any way.

We should live the Word of God—and speak the Word of God in complete honesty, no matter who that might offend.

When we step on the other side of the curtain, into eternity, we will all stand before a God who knows fully who we were trying to please on this earth.

If we’re looking to win the approval of man, then we had better change direction, before it’s too late.

A servant of Christ, looks a certain way. A pleaser of men, looks a certain way too.

So if people asked you that question today, who would they say that you’re pleasing?

God or man?

Discipline!

Hebrews 12: 6 – 7

"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

Last Sunday during Adult Sunday school, I taught on the subject of spiritual warfare.

The verse above, is probably one that isn’t discussed very often.

When Christians go through tough times, many of them put it off as spiritual warfare.

Did you know, that difficult times may have nothing at all to do with spiritual warfare?

This Bible verse says that God disciplines those He loves.

Just be sure of this—it doesn’t speak of warfare in the least sense.

Frankly speaking, sometimes Christians make some pretty stupid choices.

Paul said in Galatians 6: 7…. “What a man sows, he shall also reap.”

Some people are widely deceived, if they think that after doing something rebellious towards God, that’s it automatically the work of the devil.

It might be during those times, that the problem might just be with us.

Bad choices have sometime grave consequences.

God may have to continue giving us a boot in the shorts, until we come to Him in true repentance.

Just be sure of this…When God disciplines us, it’s for our own good—and we should never make light of that, and we should never lose heart either

Just the right moment!

Matthew 14: 32

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

 

Jesus was praying one night, and decided to meet the disciples out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.

It was night time, the winds were strong—the disciples were having a real hard time navigating—and it was dark.

 

Once they realized that Jesus was not a ghost, Peter wanted to come out to meet Him.

What I find amazing, is that Jesus did not calm the water, until Peter had learned a very valuable lesson.

 

Sometimes, Jesus waits for just the right moment, to calm the stormy seas.

He even does that in our lives, from time to time. He waits for the best opportunity.

 

If we had it our way, we’d want the wind to settle down first, before the lesson is taught.

You know, just because we don’t always have smooth sailing, does not  mean we won’t make it to the other side.

 

If we’d understood the lessons Jesus tries to teach us from day to day, I’ll bet we’d try to weather the storm, more than we do.

We should not always be in such a rush to move past a teachable moment, and before Jesus has a chance to display His mighty power.

 

You might be going through a raging storm right now.

Don’t be so quick to wish the winds to die down—especially when Jesus is trying to teach you something.

 

When the winds are blowing out of control, it’s often natural that we wonder, if God is going to come through or not.

Just be sure of this—the winds will not die down, until He works out everything for our good.

 

Jesus knows what He’s doing—and frankly, we don’t—but when we invite Him into the boat—everything seems to change for the better….

Vexed?

Psalm 112: 10

The wicked man will see and be vexed, he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

Most people in the church especially, would not consider themselves wicked.

I think if most of us were honest, our personal perceptions of ourselves, might be somewhere between righteous and wicked.

Yet, what we do know about the Bible, is that it doesn’t spend much time, teaching about the middle road.

Probably because is there is no middle road.

While classifying people of God, we’re either godly or ungodly—good or evil—or saved and lost.

Again, the Word of God doesn’t speak much about folks who are so, so—at least not in a good way.

Most of us would be able to correlate, about how Jesus speaks regarding those who are luke warm.

How can we be sure that we’d be measured as good and not wicked?

I think it has to do, with the deepest convictions of what we truly long for.

When our deepest desires are self-centered, we can be sure those desires are not good.

It’s when our hearts are aligned with God’s heart, that we can be confident that our motives aren’t wicked.

So if we love God—if we love His will—and if we love His ways, we can be sure that we won’t be counted among the wicked.

If we have to delay our response because we’re not sure, then we can be certain that our deepest longings, will probably never be satisfied

Number your days!

Psalm 90: 11 – 12

Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Most commonly, we can relate to God’s love—and God’s mercy—and God’s grace.

I wonder how often do we relate to the fear that we should have for God?

I think if we stopped for a while, and considered God’s anger—we’d probably have the fear that’s due Him.

So it begs another question then this morning…. How much fear does God really deserve?

Are we even close, to giving God the fear that He deserves?

The other thing I’m not sure people do very much anymore, is number their days.

I wonder if we really number our days the way that we should?

I think for the most part, people think they’re going to live forever, so they don’t even think of the brevity of life.

I mean, most of us think that tomorrow, as it has to do with life, is already in the bag.

I think that what the Psalmist is saying, is that the person who knows how to number their days, already has a heart of wisdom.

How much fear do you have for the things of God?

How often do you think of your own mortality?

I have to be honest with you and say, the older I grow, the more I’m in tune with the number of days I have left.

How often do you think about your life, in the light of all eternity?

I’ll be willing to bet, that if we thought more about our lives in the light of all eternity, we’d display more godly fear than we do….