What is Kajabi?
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Author: trevoressmith
Put me to the test
Put me to the test
Robbing God
Malachi 3: 6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.
What is highlighted here is the short-sightedness of man. Here it is they are withholding from God what is required of them on the assumption that they will be better off. They think that their net worth will increase by holding back on their giving.
God almost mockingly points to their lack of vision. They saw giving tithes and offering from their existing wealth as a drain on their resources. God is saying that far from being a cost to them, giving Him his full due is by far the best investment that they can make.
One message from this is that giving to God is not to be seen as a cost or a burden to the giver. Sometimes we talk about sacrificial giving in relation to our offering to God. But is that not really a mistaken concept?
Suppose there was such a thing as a money tree that grew by simply planting seeds and watering them. Suppose also there is no limit and the supply of seeds and anyone can have as many money trees as they wish.
What would you call the actions of someone who plants the money tree seeds and waters them? A sacrifice? Is that person making a sacrifice or making a wise investment?
Well, no money tree can compare to the value of what we will get when God throws open the floodgates of heaven and pours out so much blessing that we will not have room enough for it.
To take this a little further, God is in effect saying stop thinking in terms of what you have now. When you honour your obligations to Me the entire picture changes.
Stop being concerned about the depletion of your barn. You real concern is that you are going to need a bigger barn as long as you honour your obligations and do not hold back what is mine.
So we should not focus on what we have left now after we give to God what our hearts lead us to give. We can be assured that once we do not sow sparingly then whatever we had before will be multiplied.
2 Corinthians 9:6
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
This applies not only to our giving material gifts but also the giving of ourselves totally. If we devote our entire life to God we can expect to be rewarded with a much better life than we had. And that is what is promised to the Christian.
Romans 12 Living Sacrifices
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Also 2 Cor 4:
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
Ephesians 4:
Living as Children of Light
17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Devotion of self or material things to God never takes away it always adds. When we think of giving back to God what is really His we must think Addition and not Subtraction.
Another thought from Malachi relates to the phrase “Test me in this.”
When we think of a test we usually have thoughts of a stern examination – something challenging. We almost feel like we would have wasted time if the test was so simple that it did not really require much effort on the part of the person being tested.
So I get a sense that God is saying: “Challenge Me! Give me something that you consider hard to do. Say to Me, OK God see if You can match that!”
The picture that I take away is that if we give 100% with no holding back then God will recognize it and take up the challenge to show what He can do for us in return.
So the closer we get to devoting 100% to our giving and our living the more challenging the test. But God is up for the challenge and He is saying “Bring it on!”
The only caution in this is that we need to then watch out for falling objects. The promise is that the floodgates of heaven will be opened to pour down blessings on us.
What an amazing concept. You are invited to enter a contest in which the more you lose the better off you are.
So you are challenging God to a duel. You are going to give Him your best and see if He can match that. His best is going to so overwhelm you with blessings that it will be declared a no-contest. But having lost the contest you walk away – well, not walk away because it will be too much – but you will have added untold blessings to your life.
I like that kind of contest. I want to take up the challenge of putting God to the test. I want to give Him of my best without holding back.
If want to think Addition and not Subtraction in my dealings with God.
I want to avoid being limited in my thinking by the size of my existing barn and to open my thoughts to what my actions should be with a barn that is many times larger.
That means that my thoughts and my prayers and my actions are not mired by the ”realities” of “…..my light and momentary troubles. …… So I fix my eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor 4:17
Finally, there is another kind to testing of God that takes place among humans.
Psalm 95:8 -11/Heb 3:8-11
….do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.” 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, “They shall never enter my rest.”
1. Nothing is more offensive to God than disbelief of his promise and despair of the performance of it because of some difficulties that seem to lie in the way.
2. The more experience we have had of the power and goodness of God the greater is our sin if we distrust him. What, to tempt him in the wilderness, where we live upon him! This is as ungrateful as it is absurd and unreasonable. (Matthew Henry)
Are we being ungrateful, absurd and unreasonable with respect to how we view God and His promises?
Are we guilty of holding back because of lingering doubts?
Are we failing to answer a call to service out of some imagined fear or doubt?
Are we limiting our thinking to the existing size of our barn rather than putting in our 100% in the expectation that God will not only match it but will cause us to have to find bigger barns?
This is the call today: Give your all. Do not hold back in giving to God. Then get a helmet and watch out for falling blessings that will be poured out from heaven on you.
To access these blessings you need to be in Christ. To be in Christ you should have completed these steps:
What must WE do to save our souls?
1. Hear the Word – the Gospel
John 6: 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
2. Believe
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
3. Repent
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.
Luke 13: 1 Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they have suffered these things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.
4. Confess Jesus is Lord
Matt 10:32 Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
5. Be baptized for the remission of your sins
Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
1 Pet 3:21The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
6. Remain in Christ
John 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1 Pet 2: 1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
High Performance – Day Planning
This is a great productivity video from Brendon Burchard.
http://www.highperformanceacademy.com/blog/video3
High Performance
I found these videos by Brendon Burchard useful:
Notes on Motes
Notes on Motes
Matt 7:
3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Today, we present 4 points in relation to Motes. The NIV speaks of a speck.
Point #1: A mote or speck in the eye is irritating and needs to be removed.
We all know how uncomfortable even an eyelash is in our eye. The eye is not very tolerant of things that do not belong there.
This is the perspective that Christians should have of sin. Christians should view sin as an irritant and be as uncomfortable with sin as the eye is with a mote or speck in it.
Our discomfort should be so pressing and urgent that we will not stop until we remove the source of the offence. Yet, we all know about the concept of the besetting sin. (A wrong that keeps repeating itself in our life.)
In some instances, it is almost as if we have resigned ourselves to living with this problem. Yet, who among us is willing to ignore the mote in our eye and accept it as part of our reality?
The call today is for us to be intolerant of sin in our lives in the same way that we refuse to leave a speck in our eye. We should spare no effort to remove the offending behaviour from our conduct.
Sin is irritating not only to the individual but to God and the church. A speck in the eye distracts our whole being. The problem is not restricted to just the eye. Similarly, sin in a Christian’s life has wider relevance.
It has impact on the church and on others. It also has implications for the relations of the body to God. It has been shown to block God’s blessing on His people and to invite His wrath.
Joshua 7:
10 The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.
13 “Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it.
Point #2: The mote is not easily detected by others
A speck in your eye is not readily seen by onlookers. For a similar reason, sin in a Christian’s life is often missed by brethren. This limits the pressure on the individual to remove the sin and some Christians continue in sin while remaining in the fellowship.
One important consideration is that our level of discomfort with a speck in our eye is not reduced because those looking on do not see it. It is irritating to us and we have the urge to remove it even though it is not visible.
That is the philosophy that we must adopt as Christians. However, well hidden we consider our sin to be, it must annoy us to the point where we do not stop until we remove it from our lives.
It helps to remember that while human eyes may not detect the sin, God knows everything and is fully aware of even our most secret of sins.
Point #3: To detect the speck in our life we only need to look at what we think we see in the eyes of others
Sometimes we are not certain about the substance that is in our eye. We sense that all is not well but we cannot pinpoint exactly what is the source. We are also hard pressed to prevent the invasion of our eye if we have are unable to readily identify potential contaminants.
One way of identifying areas of vulnerability in our lives is to carefully review the lists of faults that we are quick to point out in others. There is strong evidence to indicate that we tend to be passionate and alert to defects that that appear in the life of others when we ourselves are guilty of them.
Romans 2
God’s Righteous Judgment
1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”[a] 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism.
The mixture of denial and disappointment prompts us to see the flaw in others. The twin factors of denial and disappointment also has the tendency to make us less patient and tolerant with others. We are quick to correct, criticize and chastise.
So my message is for us to reflect in the things that upset us in the behaviour of others. Look at the things that we are critical about. The exercise might give us some insight into where we are vulnerable.
By looking at the motes that we readily see, maybe we can identify some potential beams that are growing in us.
Point #4: An effective way of getting a speck out of our eye is to flush it out
The equivalent of a water flush for the eye is the blood of Christ in the life of an individual.
1 John 1:
5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.
What must WE do to flush our lives with the blood of Christ?
Hear the Word – the Gospel
John 6: 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Believe
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Repent
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.
Luke 13: 1 Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they have suffered these things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.
Confess Jesus is Lord
Matt 10:32 Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Be baptized for the remission of your sins
Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
1 Pet 3:21The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Remain in Christ and walk in the light
John 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1 Pet 2: 1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
Getting ready
Some of us are still on the warm up track stretching and getting ready for the race while the starter’s pistol has gone off in the stadium.
We sometimes miss opportunities because we fail to recognize when the time has come to shift from preparation to active engagement.
We fail to get to market because we fiddle around with the product … just a little longer. We fail to contact customers because we need to spend some more time getting our sales pitch right.
The time has come for action!
The time has not yet come…
The time has not yet come
Haggai 1: 1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua[a] son of Jehozadak, the high priest:
2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built.’ ”
3 Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
The time has not yet come …. that implies an inaccurate reading of the situation, procrastination, inertia, fear, lack of commitment.
Haggai wrote during the period when some Jews had returned home from the Babylonian exile. This remnant had the responsibility to re-build the temple. Led by Zerubbabel they completed the foundation within two years (536BC). This raised concern among the Samaritans and other neighbours and the work was halted.
When Darius came to power in 522 BC he facilitated the earnest renewal of the re-building process. Haggai was conscious of the fact that the Jews were more to blame for their inactivity, with respect to the re-building of the temple, than their opponents. His mission was to arouse them from their lethargy.
He sought to point out that the time has indeed come!
The question I ask today is: Has the time come for us today? What is it that we have been putting off in the belief that the time has not yet come?
What is the equivalent of a panelled house that we have built while neglecting the things of God?
Could it be that the reason why we plant much and harvest little is because we have failed to deal with something whose time has come?
Are we eating and never having enough because we have been pushing back something that needs to be addressed now thinking that the time has not yet come?
Do our purses and pockets have holes torn out because of neglect of action we should have taken but have put off because we feel the time has not yet come?
Today, devoted Christians are an embattled minority. We are the remnant charged with defending the faith. It is our responsibility to undertake the re-building process. We have to stand up and be counted.
Yet alas, like Haggai, I sense that we are guilty of thinking that the time has not yet come for us to take bold and decisive action in the process of re-building.
Like Haggai, I have a sense that we are using the cover of a number of factors and situations to mask and justify our inactivity. Today, the call is for us to arise from our lethargy and to be proactive in the service of God and Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
Do you have a sense that Church membership is growing by leaps and bounds or dwindling?
Is there a sense that those who are still attached to the Church are getting increasingly more active and dedicated?
Are we getting better at sending the Gospel message out to those who are perishing outside of Christ?
What about the number of Christians who are falling away or becoming lukewarm? Are we excelling in keeping on fire for Christ?
What of our fellowship? Are bringing more and more of our brothers and sisters into our inner circle? Are we more interested in their well being? Are we more integrated in their lives?
Like Haggai, I suggest that the time has indeed come for action!
The time has come for us to shake off sloth and lethargy. We must wake up to the reality that our inactivity represents a misreading of the situation. There is a compelling urgency to get active now. This is not a time for complacency.
The laid back, lukewarm, spectator approaches make a lie of the fact that as the remnant, God looks to us to defend the faith and to re-build the Church. As many walk aimlessly without Christ and our nation careens toward destruction there is an urgent call for us to get into action.
Haggai pointed to the Jews living in panelled houses while the temple remained in ruins. What is it that so engages us that we are unable to pay due regard to our responsibilities as children of God?
What is it that is so compelling that you are not able to consistently worship with the saints? What is it that detains you such that you cannot attend Bible Study or in some cases, even study the Bible?
The Jews are admonished to ponder on whether the hardships that they are encountering are not as a result of their misplaced priorities. Can this be true for us today?
Are we generating less income than we need? Are we persistently hungry and thirsty psychologically and spiritually? Do we have a feeling of emptiness?
Is there a sense that we are not filled spiritually? We want more and we somehow never seem to get enough and so frustration sets in and we become even more empty. Could it be that the root cause is that we have been living as if the time has not yet come?
Could it be that we have not been ready? Could it be that we have not faced the starter’s pistol?
While we have been on the warm up track getting ready, the race has in fact started. When we should be pushing toward the finish line we are still stretching and thinking about how we plan to run the race. The race is on in earnest and we are being left behind.
By the time we wake up to the reality it will be time for the awards and we will wonder in amazement how we could have missed. We did all the training signed up for the race. We were even there on race day but somehow missed because we failed to realize that the time had come for a different kind of action.
The time for preparation had passed but we did not we did not see that. So we continued in our getting ready mode. We act as if the race is some time in the future.
Does that apply to us collectively and to some of us individually? We are in perpetual preparation but never ever being engaged in the real action. We spend our time on the warm up track but never venture into the stadium where it really counts.
The vacuum that we sense is of our own creation. It is a result of our failure to be fully engaged in the process, individually and collectively. The time has indeed come for bold decisive action in the arena where it counts.
More people are dying in their sins than ever before.
More Christians are being enticed from the faith than ever before.
More Christians are living lives that are indistinguishable from those who are in the world.
More young people have the need for Christian mentoring than ever before.
More businesses need strong Christians to stem the tide of corruption and unethical practices than ever before.
More communities are need in Christian influence and outreach than ever before.
There is an ever increasing demand for resources that a proactive Church could provide.
The time has indeed come!
The time has come for us to be present physically, mentally and spiritually in our worship, Bible Study, fellowship and outreach activities.
The old rationalizations have worn thin. You are presenting them to God…not man. He sets the standard as to what is acceptable. He will be the judge.
The time has come for us to be more engaged in our study of Scriptures. The more informed we are the more we understand God’s will for our lives.
The time has come for us to be more willing to share the Gospel and the impact of God in our lives with others. Social networking is all the rage. The time has come for us to reflect God in our postings. Let people know where we stand in defence of the faith.
Friendship evangelism is the most effective means of encouraging people to come to Christ. The time has come for us to encourage people to want to go to heaven because that is where their friends will be.
The time has come for us to be more proactive in engaging our young. This is a time for Christian mentors to step forward and take charge of providing guidance to our youth. Dysfunctional homes leave many without any source of proper guidance. If ever there was a time for Christians to shelter and protect our youth it is now. Friends the time has indeed come.
The time has come for us to be generous in our giving – to the church and to those in need. Haggai links holes in purses to inactivity. Are we stopping God’s blessings in our lives because we are stingy in our giving to Him?
Malachi 3: 6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.
The time has come for us to draw closer to our brothers and sisters. Again, the old excuses have worn thin. If you feel left out, who have you sought to let in?
So what if someone has said or done something that upset you? Ever had a little spat in your family? Did you abandon them because of that?
The time for reconciliation among brethren has indeed come. We need to move past whatever differences, reservations, hurts, mistrust, frustrations we are carrying. The time has come for us to pull out a clean sheet and start again. It does not matter whether the other party is a brother, sister, evangelist, group leader or not. The time has come for clean sheets… the time has indeed come for reconciliation and a new beginning.
The time has come for more high impact outreach activities. Even as we emphasize friendship evangelism we still need to increase our influence in communities. The time has come for vibrant and fruitful outreach programmes that impact the lives of those who might not otherwise be encouraged to give their lives to Christ.
The time has come for the renewing of our minds. The time has come for us to re-dedicate our lives to Christ and to re-capture that energy and excitement that accompanies the baptismal experience. The time has indeed come for us to set aside all distractions, to beat back all the wiles of the devil and to commit now to being proactively engaged in putting God first in our lives.
The time is indeed here when we need to be seen as beacons for Christ in a world that needs for each and every Christian to let their light shine brightly.
Will you recognize what time it is? Will you fully grasp that the time has indeed come?
Processing life’s events
How we file or process life’s events dictate how we respond to them.
Smoking kills: I quit. Smoking is hip: I smoke.
Mind control = File it right to get it right.
We can turn the other cheek as long as we do not file the incident as a brutal attack on our person. That prompts us to retaliate.
We should train ourselves to put a desirable face on unfolding events. We will be amazed at how much better we respond to them.
God’s Will for our lives
God’s will for our lives
Why bother about God?
Most of us as children want to please our parents.
Most parents want the best for their children.
We are concerned about them.
Our concern is not dependent on what they do.
No matter what, they are still our children.
Why bother about God?
We are made in God’s image and God is deeply concerned about us.
As with our children, no matter what we do, we belong to God. Nothing can change that.
If we ignore God, we still belong to God. If we curse God, we still belong to God.
Gen 1:26 – 28 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
God is a spirit and so any image of God in us must be in spiritual form – our souls. Our souls are of critical importance and God is particularly interested in our souls.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The soul is more than our physical parts. Our souls are far more important that our bodies. “Soul” occurs 458 times in the King James Version of the Bible. Our souls are to be treasured and are beyond the reach of man.
Matt 10:28: And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Our souls are priceless:
Matt 16:24: Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Why are we in danger of losing our souls?
The key issue is the need for man to do the will of God. That is our duty.
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
We put our souls in danger when we fail to obey God and ignorance is no excuse
Lev 5:17 And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist (knew) it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.
Man disobeyed God and put our souls at risk.
Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
What has put our souls in danger?
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
1 Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
James 1:15 Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
What is God’s will for us?
Deut 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
What is God’s will for us?
Matt 22:37 – 40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
What is God’s will for us?
2 Tim 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
God has a plan to protect our souls?
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jn 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
What must WE do to save our souls?
1. Hear the Word – the Gospel
John 6: 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
What must we do to save our souls?
2. Believe
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
What must we do to save our souls?
3. Repent
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.
Luke 13: 1 Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they have suffered these things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.
4. What must we do to save our souls?
Confess Jesus is Lord
Matt 10:32 Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
What must we do to save our souls?
5. Be baptized for the remission of your sins
Acts 22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
1 Pet 3:21The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
What must we do to save our souls?
6. Remain in Christ
John 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1 Pet 2: 1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
TrevorESSmith 