https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:18:17 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3564/untitled https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3564






Esther 1:1-22








Have you ever felt like the world around you was moving at such an

incredible speed while you were standing still? I mean, have you ever

wondered if maybe you weren't going anywhere in life, at least not

everywhere you want to go? Have you ever asked yourself, "Is God even

at work in my life? Doesn’t He see that everything is at a standstill?"

Or worse yet, "Does He realize I feel like things are going backwards

in my life?"





It is when we are at these places in our lives that we are in an

incredibly dangerous spot. That's when Satan tries to take advantage of

the weakness of our sinful human nature. They work in tandem. Our own

weaknesses, coupled with the devil's deception, can make for a very

destructive mixture. Our lives can take some severely wrong turns when

we become disillusioned and start doubting God's involvement.





We begin this week on the book of Esther. She was an unlikely queen in

the Old Testament. Unlikely, because she was a Jewish orphan girl who

became queen of Persia! This is a truly incredible story of Divine

Destiny!





The Bible is such an exciting book because it is filled with such

stories! Consider the lives of Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, David,

Mary the mother of Jesus, and so many more. If you read the biographies

in the Word of God you cannot help but see God at work in people's

lives, especially people who trust Him and look to Him for guidance!

And in each of those lives there are times when all seems lost. Things

have a way of seeming to get worse before they get better.





The story of God's work in the life of Esther begins with her in the

background. She isn't even mentioned in this first chapter of the book

that bears her name. God isn't mentioned either - not in the entire

book! Neither is the devil. But God and the devil are both involved in

what is about to happen. That's why this week we considered, "Why the

Devil Takes Advantage of Us – Wrong Things to Do When I'm Angry,

Depressed, Anxious, etc."





Here's the foundation of the story from chapter one of Esther.





1 These events happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over

127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. 2 At that time Xerxes

ruled his empire from his royal throne at the fortress of Susa. 3 In

the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his nobles and

officials. He invited all the military officers of Persia and Media as

well as the princes and nobles of the provinces. 4 The celebration

lasted 180 days—a tremendous display of the opulent wealth of his

empire and the pomp and splendor of his majesty.





5 When it was all over, the king gave a banquet for all the people,

from the greatest to the least, who were in the fortress of Susa. It

lasted for seven days and was held in the courtyard of the palace

garden. 6 The courtyard was beautifully decorated with white cotton

curtains and blue hangings, which were fastened with white linen cords

and purple ribbons to silver rings embedded in marble pillars. Gold and

silver couches stood on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble,

mother-of-pearl, and other costly stones.





7 Drinks were served in gold goblets of many designs, and there was an

abundance of royal wine, reflecting the king's generosity. 8 By edict

of the king, no limits were placed on the drinking, for the king had

instructed all his palace officials to serve each man as much as he

wanted. 9 At the same time, Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women

in the royal palace of King Xerxes.





10 On the seventh day of the feast, when King Xerxes was in high

spirits because of the wine, he told the seven eunuchs who attended

him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas—11 to

bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown on her head. He wanted

the nobles and all the other men to gaze on her beauty, for she was a

very beautiful woman. 12 But when they conveyed the king’s order to

Queen Vashti, she refused to come. This made the king furious, and he

burned with anger.


13 He immediately consulted with his wise advisers, who knew all the

Persian laws and customs, for he always asked their advice. 14 The

names of these men were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres,

Marsena, and Memucan—seven nobles of Persia and Media. They met with

the king regularly and held the highest positions in the empire.





15 "What must be done to Queen Vashti?" the king demanded. "What

penalty does the law provide for a queen who refuses to obey the king's

orders, properly sent through his eunuchs?"





16 Memucan answered the king and his nobles, "Queen Vashti has wronged

not only the king but also every noble and citizen throughout your

empire. 17 Women everywhere will begin to despise their husbands when

they learn that Queen Vashti has refused to appear before the king. 18

Before this day is out, the wives of all the king's nobles throughout

Persia and Media will hear what the queen did and will start treating

their husbands the same way. There will be no end to their contempt and

anger.





19 So if it please the king, we suggest that you issue a written

decree, a law of the Persians and Medes that cannot be revoked. It

should order that Queen Vashti be forever banished from the presence of

King Xerxes, and that the king should choose another queen more worthy

than she. 20 When this decree is published throughout the king's vast

empire, husbands everywhere, whatever their rank, will receive proper

respect from their wives!"





21 The king and his nobles thought this made good sense, so he followed

Memucan's counsel. 22 He sent letters to all parts of the empire, to

each province in its own script and language, proclaiming that every

man should be the ruler of his own home and should say whatever he

pleases. (Esther 1:1-22, New Living Translation)





What King Xerxes did was wrong. He threw a drunken party; embarrassed

himself by making a foolish request of his wife; was further humiliated

because the queen had more decorum than he; and became so furious that

he tried to save face by following the chauvinistic and foolish advice

of his cabinet.





Anyway what King Xerxes did was wrong. But the book of Esther is about

how God was able to take his wrong and move in the life of Esther in a

way that would save the Jewish people. God was able to take a wrong and

make a tremendous "right" out of it. Stick with us in this story to see

how it all plays out.





Right up front you need to know this about God. He isn't handcuffed by

people's bad decisions.





King Xerxes made a bad decision. It was foolish of him to have Queen

Vashti deposed and exiled in his anger. But God is so wise and so much

in command of the situation, that He uses this foolish decision in the

king's life to make something good of it.





People have made foolish choices that have adversely affected your

life. Or you've faced other setbacks, defeats and discouragements

because of poor decisions that you or someone else has made in a moment

of anger or depression or fear.





God is able to take bad things and make good of them in your life!





But before we get to some of those good things that only God can do,

let's learn from the king's mistake so that we too don't make stupid

choices like he did. Doing stupid stuff when we're angry is like buying

stuff with a credit card and not paying it off before the interest

accrues. Buy now. Pay later. And pay with interest.





Wrong Things to Do When I’m Angry (or depressed, or fearful, or

anxious, or worried…)





1. It's a mistake to invest in pride.





But when they conveyed the king's order to Queen Vashti, she refused to

come. This made the king furious, and he burned with anger. Esther 1:12

(NLT)





King Xerxes throws a mammoth 6-month long party and invites dignitaries

from the 127 different provinces over which he rules. Then he follows

that up with a one-week long party for anybody and everybody in the

capital city. What's the purpose of this celebration? To impress people

with how important he is!





Xerxes' dumb decision to get rid of Vashti stemmed from what we would

call his ego, better yet his pride. He made a foolish request of his

wife; an unmannerly, unkind, and disrespectful request for her to

appear before the drunken mob as a sex object. Then he gets angry

because she has better sense than he does!





Pride often initiates, inflames and intensifies anger. That's why it's

a big mistake to invest in pride. Whatever I invest in becomes what I'm

committed to. Once Xerxes had invested so deeply in pride he had

committed himself to self-glorification and self-honor. He became so

self-focused that he had no clue as to what his request would mean to

his wife.





We all have these momentary lapses of judgment when we think too highly

of ourselves. The key is not to let this false impression of ourselves

last. Don't invest in them. When we feel foolish pride swelling up

inside us we need to follow the old adage of swallowing our pride.





I've heard messages and even done plenty of teaching myself on the

topic of dealing with anger, and the best guard against doing stupid

stuff when I'm angry (or hurt, or depressed, or fill in the blank with

your favorite bad behavior), is to head anger (or any other bad

behavior) off at the pass. If pride precedes into passion then I need

to get to the roots of my problem.





2. It's a mistake to borrow bitterness.





What's the first thing King Xerxes did when Queen Vashti turned down

his insulting idea?





He immediately consulted with his wise advisers, who knew all the

Persian laws and customs, for he always asked their advice. Esther 1:13

(NLT)





What's wrong with this picture? Isn't it smart to get ideas from other

people when you confront a tough situation? Sure. Generally speaking,

it IS wise to lean upon a wider body of ideas than only that which

comes from your own experiences in life. But think about it, Was he

really asking the right people?





Do you know what I think the king was doing? I think he was doing the

same thing we've all done before. He asked these guys because he knew

that they would tell him what he wanted to hear.





The purpose of his 6-month and 1-week long party was to show everybody

how important he was! His "crowning" moment was going to be the gem

appearance of his beautiful wife. He was going to parade her into the

arena of the drunk inhabitants of the capital city – and insult of all

insults – she refuses to comply to his demands!





I want to pause and insert something here about relationships. It is

never proper to make requests of others that humiliate, belittle, or in

any way exploit them. Chuck Swindoll says this about Queen Vashti's

refusal to her husband’s abusive request:





"I…admire Queen Vashti. In the midst of an unsavory scene she was brave

enough to say no to that which was blatantly wrong, and in resisting

this insulting act of indignity, she took a stand against the greatest

power in her universe. Good for her!





Submission does not mean that a wife is a sexual pawn in the carnal

desires of her husband. It was never God's design that a wife submit to

her husband's evil desires. In King Ahasuerus' case, this took the form

of desiring to display her before those who would have nothing in mind

but lust. What he asked was not submission; it was sexual slavery. And

I applaud Queen Vashti for her courageous decision. Marriage does not

give a husband the right or the license to fulfill his evil fantasies

by using his wife as a sexual object.





So a word of warning here: Be careful, men, what you ask of the woman

God has given you. Be certain that it doesn't assault her dignity as a

person, or turn a precious human being, created in God's image, into a

sexual object for your own carnal gratification.





Now back to the point about it being a mistake to borrow bitterness.

Reading the reply of the king's cabinet to his plea for advice you get

the idea that these guys were insecure to say the least and bitter to

boot.





16 Memucan answered the king and his nobles, "Queen Vashti has wronged

not only the king but also every noble and citizen throughout your

empire. 17 Women everywhere will begin to despise their husbands when

they learn that Queen Vashti has refused to appear before the king. 18

Before this day is out, the wives of all the king's nobles throughout

Persia and Media will hear what the queen did and will start treating

their husbands the same way. There will be no end to their contempt and

anger.





19 "So if it please the king, we suggest that you issue a written

decree, a law of the Persians and Medes that cannot be revoked. It

should order that Queen Vashti be forever banished from the presence of

King Xerxes, and that the king should choose another queen more worthy

than she. 20 When this decree is published throughout the king's vast

empire, husbands everywhere, whatever their rank, will receive proper

respect from their wives!" 21 The king and his nobles thought this made

good sense, so he followed Memucan's counsel. 22 He sent letters to all

parts of the empire, to each province in its own script and language,

proclaiming that every man should be the ruler of his own home and

should say whatever he pleases.





That's quite an overreaction! But the king falls for it because it is

precisely what he was listening for!





Be careful about picking people to give you advice who are going to

tell you what you want to hear. ESPECIALLY BE CAREFUL ABOUT LISTENING

TO BITTER PEOPLE! What you need are people who are going to have enough

integrity to tell you what you NEED to hear!





It is not difficult to read between the lines and see the bitterness

and insecurity of the king's counselors. These guys were not fit to

lead the kingdom. They didn't even know how to lead in their own homes!

YOU DON’T LEAD PEOPLE BY DICTATORSHIP. Oh you can get some of what you

want by bullying people. But you can't have loving, lasting

relationships without leading people by example and respect.





These counselors had an axe to grind. People who have an axe to grind

will chop you up!





King Xerxes was proud. His pride led to anger. And then, he listens to

a bunch of bitter guys, men who obviously didn't get it. These men

thought you could legislate respect by saying whatever you please to

your wife. "Pass a law. Make it legal for a man to say whatever he

wants to say to his wife; treat her any way he pleases and she has to

put up with it." Knuckleheads! Duh!





If you follow that kind of advice in your relationships, that kind of

bitterness will backfire on you!





In his book, The 7 Sins of Highly Defective People, Rick Ezell writes:

“When my wife and I were in London one spring, we discovered that some

of the bombs dropped on England are still killing people. Sometimes

they are discovered; sometimes blow up at construction sites, in

fishing nets or on beaches more than 50 years after the war. Undetected

bombs become more dangerous with time because corrosion can expose the

detonator."





What is true of bombs that are not dealt with is also true of people

who have unresolved anger. Buried anger explodes when we least expect

it. When anger explodes, it does all sorts of damage. It severs

relationships. It causes ulcers. It leads to murder. When anger is

turned inward, it leads to depression. When it is turned outward, it

leads to aggression. So, we all have to deal with our anger, not bury

it.





Anger is like a splinter in your finger. If you leave it there, it gets

infected and hurts every time you use your finger. If you remove it,

the sore heals and you feel better.





Don't borrow bitterness! Don't let someone else's unresolved anger

invade your life! It kills relationships! Wrong things to do when I’m

angry, depressed, etc.: 1) Invest in anger; 2) Borrow bitterness; and…





3. It’s a mistake to trade relationships.





So if it please the king, we suggest that you issue a written decree, a

law of the Persians and Medes that cannot be revoked. It should order

that Queen Vashti be forever banished from the presence of King Xerxes,

and that the king should choose another queen more worthy than she.

Ester 1:19 (NLT)





Let me preface this point by saying that I am not trying to excavate

anyone's past sins. Some of you have gone through very painful and

heartbreaking ends to relationships in your past. Please know that I

know, and more importantly, God knows, that those are in your past.





We've all made mistakes in our relationships. God knows that Lori and I

have made some serious mistakes in our past lives. But those are in our

past and our marriage is strong and secure. It also does not mean we

trade relationships when we go through some rough spots. It's those

rough spots you should be able to overcome and move on. Dealing with it

is the best thing to do and not bury it till one day it explodes out of

no where.





King Xerxes made the serious mistake of deciding to trade

relationships. He decided to choose another queen instead of working

out his problem with Vashti. Vashti wasn't unfaithful, so he had no

grounds for divorce.





I'm sorry about all the marriages that have broken up. I'm sorry for

some of you who have gone through divorce. But all of us need to stand

together to try and help marriages remain intact from this point

forward. Our hearts need to go out to those recovering from divorce,

yet at the same time we need to do everything in our power to see that

divorce is not the answer that a lot of people think it is.





Christ followers need to be committed to making their marriage work by

turning to Christ and finding ways to overcome their obstacles. What we

are dealing with today is an important principle. King Xerxes made the

mistake that a lot of people make today. In pride and anger, in

bitterness and in response to bad advice, he ended his relationship

with his wife and sought another.





Yes, as we noted at the beginning of this message, God is able to take

bad choices and make good out of them. I don't understand how God does

it – He's God! He deserves a lot of praise for this and so many other

reasons!





We'll begin to see next week in this series that God was strategically

able to make the Jewish orphan girl named Esther the next queen, and

how, by becoming queen, she was able to save her people.





But that is not to say that what the king did was right. Yes, God is

merciful, He is gracious, and He is kind! But don't mistake God's

wonderful attributes with approval for our sin. By using the king's

mistake to raise up Esther, God was not approving divorce. He was not

approving how Xerxes treated Vashti. He was showing us how much He

loves us, and how He can work in our lives in spite of our sin!





It is a mistake to trade relationships when the going gets rough.





I read something awhile back how Will Smith mentioned, that he and his

wife Jade Pinkett Smith had been married for ten years. When asked how,

in Hollywood terms, they had remained together so long, Smith replied,

"What I found is divorce just can't be an option…I think that's the

problem with L.A. – there are so many options. So a huge part of the

success for Jada and me is that we just removed the other options."





I believe that's a good platform on which to base a marriage. Both

parties need to be committed to that precept – divorce is not an

option. Lori and are committed to that precept. I know many others who

have been. And it is a powerful tool for working things out in your

relationships.





Once again, I realize this is a tender subject and I also know that

some of you believed in that precept when you had spouses who didn't.

But as much as possible we need to believe that our marriages are worth

fighting for! I suggest getting that movie "FireProof" Great movie.

Lori and I watched it and loved it. Better yet for some of you who are

having difficulties or you know of any couple who is, ask your church

to hold a class on it. "FireProof" You will be glad you did it.





Later in the book of Esther we'll see signs that King Xerxes regretted

his hasty decision. It was foolish.





It's just one of the foolish things we can do when we're angry,

depressed, frustrated, etc. It's why the devil takes advantage of us.

He knows that our immediate gratification is not as profitable for us

as waiting on God.





What mistake(s) do you need to avoid when the pressure’s on:





1. It's a mistake to invest in pride.


2. It's a mistake to borrow bitterness.


3. It's a mistake to trade relationships.]]> Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:02:47 -0330 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3563/hell-is-real https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3563

Hebrews 9:27








Go with me on a journey in your spiritual mind that will change your


life for all eternity. Imagine your life and everything is going well


for you. You have a reasonable portion of good health, friends, money,


your relationship is working out just fine. You are young or for your


age you couldn't feel better. Everything in your life is going just the


way it should be and the way that you planned for it to go. In all


actuality you are able to walk through life saying zip-a-dee do dah o my


things are going my way.





When all of the sudden you are dead. You see your body lying there and


you begin to notice as your spirit begins to separate from your


physical but dead body. As your spirit begins to separate from your


body you begin to hear a sound in your ears that just keeps getting


louder and louder. It's the most horrific and gut wrenching screams you


have ever heard.





There is crying and weeping, screams of agony and torment, and yelling


unlike anything you have ever heard before and it just keeps getting


louder and louder.





As you drift farther and farther away from your dead carcass, all of a


sudden sheer agony, torment, and pain hit you from the top of your head


to the souls of your feet, you begin to scream because of the


unbearable pain that you are feeling. You begin to grind your teeth


together in agony and as you grind them harder and harder they


literally begin to break off causing even more and more pain to your


agony. Your spiritual eternal body begins to thrash violently because


of the agonizing pain it is feeling, you begin convulsing from the pain


uncontrollably, but the whole time you are very much aware of


everything that is happening to you.





Suddenly your nostrils fill with the smell of sulfur and burning flesh,


it's a smell worse than the smell of death. Your body temperature


begins to rise to an unbearable degree you scream in torment from the


agonizing pain and the blistering heat that comes from your body. You


notice that your skin begins to blister and crackle from the heat, the


blisters begin to bust oozing out nothing but pain wrenching smoke,


when suddenly out of every orifice of your body flames literally begin


to shoot out, you are burning but not being consumed.





In sheer agonizing torment, you begin to notice that you are now


beginning to physically transform into the most hideous looking


creature imaginable. You look like you, but the lower part of your body


is transforming into what appears to look like a giant worm.





You scream out in total agony and disbelief realizing that you are in


hell. You smell hell, see hell, feel hell, and you are hell. You cry


out let me die I want to die when you recall you saw your physical body


lying there and your spirit separate from it. You remember the


scripture of Hebrew 9:27 "It is appointed once for man to die, but


after this the judgment."





You realize that what people have been saying all these years was


wrong, death is not the end of it all there is life after death.


Eternal life that you will never die from, you'll never grow old,


you'll never escape. Eternal life that will constantly keep you in the


condition you are in now.





You cry out in total desperation God how could you let this happen to


me, why didn't you warn me about this place. When suddenly every


message the preacher preached comes to your remembrance. You vividly


recall hearing the words of Acts 2:38 "Repent and be baptized in the


name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive


the gift of the Holy Ghost," but you felt you had plenty of time and


didn't bother to repent.





The mental anguish compounds on the torment you already feel. You hear


the screams of other souls that have been punished to spend eternity in


hell, but you can't see them because darkness has engulfed you. You cry


out God don't you care I thought you were a loving God, how could you


send me to this place?





When you suddenly hear in your mind the words of John 3:16 "For God so


loved the world that he gave His only begotten son that whosoever


believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life" you had


your chance, but your life was going along just fine and you felt you


had plenty of time so you refused to believe, now you are paying the


price.





You suddenly realize that John 3:16 was not all there was to that


chapter. John 3:36 begins to ring in your mind and you hear these words


"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that


believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth


on him." You rejected the love of God now His wrath abideth on you


forever.


You cry out but I went to church, I paid my tithes, I gave more than


10%, I sang on the praise team every Sunday, but you only had a form of


godliness.





Sure you went to church, but you never developed a relationship with


God. Therefore God said depart from me you worker of iniquity I never


knew you.





You're in hell, in torment, pain, agony, and a disgusting form. Hell is


your abode and you are hell. You cry out Lord how long will I have to


be here when you realize that this hell is eternal damnation. You


remember the Bible says in Revelation 20:10 "And the devil that


deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the


beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night


for ever and ever." You are there forever and ever. There is no


reprieve from hell. No parole board will ever set you free.





You will never be released because of being wrongly convicted. You are


there forever and ever. In pain and agony, every memory of every


opportunity to receive Jesus runs through your head. Loneliness and


despair, gnashing of teeth and agonizing pain are yours forever.





You are constantly burning, but never burned up. You thirst, but never


receive water to quench your thirst. You want to die, but your worm


will never die. You hear the screams of others but never see anyone


because utter darkness is surrounding you. You're in Hell and it's all


your fault.





However, you don't have to go to Hell. The choice is yours.





Today many Christians have been spiritually malnourished with a steady


and unrelenting diet of self promoting piousness, prosperity


propaganda, no punishment for sin, all tolerant, all inclusive junk


food false doctrine until they are completely void of any spiritual


discernment.





Many today don't believe in hell. There are many churches that don't


talk about Hell. Many preachers refuse to preach about hell, they


rather preach a message to make people feel good and keep the


membership of their churches high. There are some preachers that will


say I don't have it in my heart to condemn people. I'm there to


encourage them. I see myself more as a coach, as a motivator to help


them experience the life God has for us, instead of a watchman for


their souls.





They fail to tell people that God is a Holy God and because He is holy


he must punish sin and that punishment is in hell. Because they fail to


cause people to believe in God and that He is just in righteousness and


punishment are causing people to have the wrath of God abide on them.





A message that talks about hell and warns people about the punishment


of sin is not to condemn people, but expresses love. Hebrew 12:6-11


says "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son


whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as


with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye


be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye


bastards, and not sons.





Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we


gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the


Father of spirits, and live?





For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure;


but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness Now


no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:


nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness


unto them which are exercised thereby." If you get offended by a


message about the torments and eternity of hell get over it, because if


you don't that's where you're going to go.





Brothers and sisters, Hell is a real place and many will find that they


will spend eternity there. There will be those that went to church


every Sunday religiously, sang on the praise teams, even came to the


altar every time altar call was made, they paid their tithes and


offerings, yet they will be forever tormented in hell because they


failed to develop a relationship with Jesus. They had a form of


godliness, but denied the power thereof.





Hell is real, the suffering is eternal, there is no escape from there


once you go, but you can miss hell altogether. Contrary to popular


belief, Hell is not going to be a place where you and your friends can


just hang out and have a party. It is not a place you will go until you


have paid your debt of sin and be released. Hell is real, it is


eternal, and you will see hell, feel hell, smell hell, and be hell, the


choice is yours.





Now I don’t want you to just take my word that Hell is real


and you should never just take anybody's word. The Bible says in John


5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life:


and they are they which testify of me." So this week I want you to


search the scriptures and see for yourself what the Bible says about


Hell.





1. WHAT IS HELL – HELL IS A PLACE OF FIRE & TORMENT.


a). Luke 16:19-31


b). Revelation 20:11-15


c). Matthew 8:12


d). Matthew 22:13





Take the time right now and read these scriptures.





So we see hell is a dark place of fire and torment. Ain't no party


going on here. Don't be fooled you're not going to have time to hang


out with friends, but you will be in torment and agony. Hell is real,


real bad.





2. SEE WHAT JESUS SAYS ABOUT HELL.


Fire Matt.7:19, 13:40, 25:41


Everlasting Fire Matt. 18:8, 25:41


Eternal Damnation Mark 3:29


Hell Fire Matt. 5:22, 18:9, Mark 9:47


Damnation Matt 23:14, Mark 12:40, Luke 20:47


Damnation of Hell Matt 23:33


Resurrection of Damnation John 5:29


Furnace of Fire Matt 13:42, 50


Fire that never shall be quenched Mark 9:43, 45


Fire is not quenched Mark 9:44, 46, 48


Where their worm dieth not Mark 9:44, 46, 48


Wailing and Gnashing of teeth Matt 13:42, 50


Weeping and Gnashing of teeth Matt 8:12, 22:13, 25:30


Torments Luke 16:23


Place of Torment Luke 16:28


Outer darkness Matt 8;12, 22:13


Everlasting Punishment Matt 25:46





No place did Jesus say it would be a party or a reunion of old friends.


But he described it a place of torment, fire, darkness.





Hebrews 9:27 says "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but


after this the judgment." Many people say there is no such place as


Hell, but if Jesus, who is God manifested in the flesh spoke about hell


and warns us about it, hang what any other man says about it. The Bible


says in Romans 3:4 "let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is


written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest


overcome when thou art judged." (kjv)





3. THE NECESSITY OF HELL


1). Why did God create Hell?


a). Matt.25:41 says "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,


Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the


devil and his angels." Because of sin (pride) Lucifer was kicked out of


heaven and one third of the angels fell with him and are to be punished


for what they have done in hell. Hell was the place where God was to


deal righteously with the devil and all the fallen angels. Isa.


14:12-16.





b). John 5:29 says "And shall come forth; they that have done good,


unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the


resurrection of damnation."





Don’t you let some jack-legged, money hungry, self-help


preacher or anybody else tell you that once you die its all over


Heb.9:27. We all must face what happens after death, some will receive


eternal life and other will receive eternal damnation, the choice is


yours.





4. WHERE IS HELL?


Now I know we have all heard the saying there can't be a hell because


Hell is right here on earth. That's not true, but it is closer than you


think.





1). Matt. 12:40 says "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in


the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three


nights in the heart of the earth."





2). Eph. 4:9 says "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also


descended first into the lower parts of the earth."





3). Isaiah 14:9 says "Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee


at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief


ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings


of the nations."





So we can tell from these verses that Hell is in the earth presently.


Hell is also called the pit in Isa 14:9, Ezek 32:18-21 and the abyss


Rev.9:2. I like to watch the Discovery Channel and History Channel and


sometime you catch episodes on Volcanoes. Have you ever seen the


pictures of volcanoes erupting and forming literally a lake of fire,


where the heat is so intense that it destroys everything simply from


the heat itself. A volcano erupting would come close to describing hell.





In Numbers 16:31-33 the Bible describes people falling into hell in the


earth.





5. HOW LONG IS HELL"





1). Hell is Forever.


Matt. 25:41, 46 "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,


Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the


devil and his angels." "And these shall go away into everlasting


punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."





Rev. 14:11 "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and


ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and


his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."





Jude 7,13 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like


manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange


flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal


fire. 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame;


wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for


ever."





Mark 3:29 says "But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath


never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation."





Hell is forever. The most horrific aspect about hell is that it's


eternal. Hell will last forever. We cannot comprehend just how long


eternity is. If you could imagine being in a place of torment and pain,


constantly burning but never burning up for a million years and then


realize that after a million years you still haven't began to work time


down off of eternity. Revelation 20:10 said "shall be tormented day and


night forever and ever."





There's no hope in hell for you rejected your only hope Jesus Christ


that's why you are there in the first place. There is no hope in death,


for death is thrown in the lake of fire as well. There's no hope in


being reprieved, there's no hope of annihilation for your worm shall


never die. You are forever and ever torment in hell. Every thought


mentally anguishes you, you'll remember all the chances you had, the


scriptures you heard in hopes you would change, but you made the choice


now Hell is your abode. You want to die but can't, you want water but


none is given, just imagine and this last forever and ever.





6. WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE IN HELL?


Now let me say before I even begin to try to teach this portion here


that there are many different interpretation on this particular aspect;


however, I am going to show you with the Word of God how I come to this


particular description.





1). Mark 9:44, 46, 48 (KJV) says "Where their worm dieth not, and the


fire is not quenched. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not


quenched. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched."


Here Jesus is referring to the scripture in Isaiah 66:24.





2). 1 Corinthians 15:53-54 "For this corruptible must put on


incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this


corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have


put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is


written, Death is swallowed up in victory."





To fully grasp this you must go back up to the 47th verse of 1Cor. "The


first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from


heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is


the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have


borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the


heavenly.





Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the


kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I


shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be


changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:


for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised


incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put


on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this


corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have


put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is


written, Death is swallowed up in victory."





Here Paul is explaining the rapture and he says "flesh and blood cannot


inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit


incorruption" then he says "the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and


we shall be changed, for mortal shall have put on immortality."





In order to inherit the kingdom of God our bodies have to undergo a


change from mortal to immortality. Well since every coin has a flip


side I believe that those that are raised to the resurrection of


damnation must also receive a change in their mortal body to an


immortal one, for it is the body that feels. God cursed this body in


Genesis 3:19 "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou


return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou


art, and unto dust shalt thou return."





Since the body must go back to the dust and a spirit is not able to


feel a bodily form of somewhat needs to house the spirit damned in Hell.





Remember 1 Cor. 15:47-48 says "The first man is of the earth, earthy:


the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they


also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that


are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall


also bear the image of the heavenly." Since we will have a bodily form


like our heavenly father would it not be that those doomed to hell have


a form like their father.





John 8:44 says "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your


father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not


in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie,


he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."





Genesis 3:14 says "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou


hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast


of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all


the days of thy life."





The serpent we know today as a snake. If the devil, Satan, Lucifer, the


father of the damned has the form of a snake would it not be likely


that the body of those in hell take the form of a snake as well?





Let's look at some scripture to back this theology up.


Job 25:6 says "How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man,


which is a worm."





Psalms 22:6 says "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and


despised of the people."





Now look at Isaiah 66:24 says "And they shall go forth, and look upon


the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their


worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they


shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."





Their worm means it is personal and carcases are not always something


that is dead. Deuteronomy 14:8 and Ezekiel 6:5 use the word dead with


carcase, if a carcase was always dead why did the Bible have to mention


a dead carcase?





I truly believe that those that are doomed to spend eternity in Hell


will have an abhorring bodily form like that of a snake and human


combined. If you remember a movie, back in the 70’s called


"SSSSSSSS" the story line was "A fanatically dedicated snake expert


(Strother Martin) takes his obsession to diabolical extremes when he


begins injecting his unwitting research assistant (Dirk Benedict) with


a supposed immunization serum to protect him against his venomous


subjects. Only when the young guinea pig's skin begins to shed does he


discover the truth--the doctor is changing him into a snake! At the man


(Dirk) at the end of the movie began to transform from the waist up he


was human, but was scaled like a snake and even green in color, from


the waist down he had turned into a snake. He literally was an


abhorring abomination. I believe that is somewhat the immortal bodies


of those in hell will look like according to Isaiah 66:24. Their


conscience mind is aware of everything that is going on. They remember


every opportunity they ever had to repent. They are hideous and


tormented physically, mentally, and spiritual forever and ever.





7. JESUS SAYS NOTHING IS WORTH GOING TO HELL.


1). Mark 9:4, 45, 47 says "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it


is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God maimed, than having


two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched


And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter


into the kingdom of God, than having two feet to be cast into hell,


into the fire that never shall be quenched And if thine eye offend


thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of


God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."





2). Mark 8:36 says "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain


the whole world, and lose his own soul."





Here Jesus is saying nothing is worth you going to hell. If your hand


were to send you to hell it would be better to cut it off and receive


eternal life than go to hell with two hands.





Stop and think for a moment and then ask yourself this question: "What


could be possibly be worth eternity in hell?"





There is a place called hell and sadly many people will spend eternity


there simply because they refused to repent and turn from their wicked


ways and accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.





You may have made some terrible decisions in your life and even


committed sins that you think are unimaginable and unforgiveable, but


the reason you are still here is that you may have yet another


opportunity to repent.





Don't wait until you think you have it all together. Don't say I will


come tomorrow because tomorrow might be too late. The Bible says in


Proverbs 27:1 "Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what


a day bring forth." Just like at the beginning of this sermon when I


said imagine your life and all of the sudden you're dead.





Don't feel that you have all the time in the world. Don't feel that God


will not punish sin just because you feel as though you have gotten


away with everything this long. The Bible says in 2nd Peter 3:9-10 "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. 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."





Nothing is worth spending an eternity in hell.


Remember Hebrew 9:27 says "It is appointed once for man to die, but


after this the judgment." At the Great White Throne Judgment every


person that ever lived will stand before God. Revelation 20:12 says


"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books


were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:


and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the


books, according to their works."





Revelation 20:15 says "And whosoever was not found written in the book


of life was cast into the Lake of Fire."





Is your name written in the book of life? If not it needs to be, it's


Hell if it's not.


Hell is real – The Choice is Yours.





Don't let this offend you, for it is needed to be said at times to wake


us up to the truth for many churches today won't preach it. If you are


receiving this message and have not given your life truly to Jesus, and


want to do so. Take time and pray right now unto Jesus and ask Him to


come into your heart and ask for His forgiveness for your sins. If you


need more help there are many pastors available in your area to go to


for I know no true pastor that will turn anyone away in coming to


Christ if you ask them for help in this matter. If not you can write to us


and we will help you.]]> Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:13:38 -0330 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3562/every-day-decisions-part-2-of-the-book-of-esther https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3562 Esther

2:1-23










Some of my favorite reads online are the stories of dumb criminals.





Last week a masked man actually stood in line to rob a bank!





Police in Stow, Ohio, near Akron, say 24-year-old Feliks Goldshtein of

Highland Heights was arrested minutes after his mask-wearing episode on

Thursday, following a brief car chase.





Police say the teller asked the man to take off the mask before being

served. At that point the man displayed what turned out to be a toy gun

and told the teller to give him all the money.





Police Captain Rick Myers says it's unusual for a masked robber to wait

in line at a bank.





Goldshtein was being held at the Summit County Jail Friday on charges

of aggravated robbery and failure to comply with a police order. He had

an afternoon court appearance scheduled.





We're not dumb criminals, but we've all done dumb things. We've all

made foolish choices. Like King Xerxes in Esther chapter 1, which we

considered last week in the 1st part of this series, we've all been

angry, frustrated, depressed, and even misled by bitter advice, which

led us to make some pretty dumb decisions.





The question we'll answer this week from Scripture is "How do you make

good decisions?"





The book of Esther is a great read about two kinds of choices and two

kinds of people: people who make wise choices and people who make the

other kind. One of our goals in life should be to become people who

make good choices because a lot rides on the choices we make. The

course our life takes, to a large degree, depends on the choices we

make.





But before we get to the biblical view on this subject let's begin with

the decision-making track record of King Xerxes and what we can learn

from it. In chapter one of the book of Esther, Xerxes blew it when it

came to making a good decision. Let's pick up the story line on him in

chapter two of Esther.





Later, when King Xerxes was not so angry, he remembered Vashti and what

she had done and his order about her. 2 Then the king's personal

servants suggested, "Let a search be made for beautiful young girls for

the king. 3 Let the king choose supervisors in every state of his

kingdom to bring every beautiful young girl to the palace at Susa. They

should be taken to the women's quarters and put under the care of

Hegai, the king's eunuch in charge of the women. And let beauty

treatments be given to them.4 Then let the girl who most pleases the

king become queen in place of Vashti." The king liked this idea, so he

did as they said. Esther 2:1-4 (NCV)





Four years have passed since the events of chapter one. (Esther 2:16)

During this time Xerxes had been away on a military campaign against

the Greeks, lost, and had come home in humiliation. But he didn't have

a queen to come home to - because he had banished Vashti from his

presence. He regretted his rash actions but one of the quirky fine

points of Persian law was, once an order was enacted it could not be

rescinded. (Esther 1:19)





It's so good to know that God doesn't operate this way! He doesn't

always change the consequences of our actions but He does give us

second chances to make good choices! He works with us as we make new

and better choices.





Since the king can't undo his dumb decision to get rid of Queen Vashti,

his counselors suggest gathering the most beautiful women in the empire

to find a suitable replacement for her. They're probably quick to

suggest this because, if King Xerxes did try to buck the Persian

tradition of not allowing laws to be changed and Vashti was restored to

the thrown, they're gooses were probably cooked. They were the

nincompoops who recommended she be deposed. Which brings us to the

first precept on decision making.





1. Be cautious of advice from biased parties.





If you're going to make a major purchase don't take everything the

salesman says at face value. Read up on the item you're thinking about

purchasing. Read what consumer advocates are saying because they are

less biased.





Since we already talked about the foolishness of taking advice from

bitter people in the first installment of this series we won't expand

on this here. Just remember that it is always wise to consider the

source of your advice. Getting advice is good. Getting it from the

wrong source leads to failure.





2. Don't base decisions on outward appearances alone.





The recommendation of the king's advisers was to basically pick the

prettiest girl to be his next wife, not that we should mistake this

search for a new wife for the king as a beauty contest. These young

women were not willing participants and God didn't condone this

methodology. The Hebrew language suggests they were taken

involuntarily. Against their will they became a part of the royal

harem.





The only reason for choosing them given by the king's counselors was

that they were young and beautiful. (Verse 3) This is the mantra of

Hollywood and Madison Avenue today. Every actress, every model, needs

to be a "10" in order to qualify for inclusion into the select group of

idolized females in our culture. What a crock of baloney! And the sad

thing is so many Americans have bought in to this way of thinking.





God’s Word says,





3 It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make

you beautiful. 4 No, your beauty should come from within you—the beauty

of a gentle and quiet spirit that will never be destroyed and is very

precious to God. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NCV)





Yes, Esther was beautiful on the outside, just like the rest of the

young women chosen for this competition to be the next queen. But God

did not work behind the scenes in Esther's life to make her queen

because she was outwardly beautiful – but because of her good

character.





God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of

a person, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7b (NCV)





What has happened in our culture today, not just with choosing a

spouse, but also making so many other vital decisions is that we have

been duped into believing that external appearances are the most

important. They're not. God wants us to look beneath the surface! What

lies below the skin? When we decide where to live, where to work, where

to worship, making major purchases and yes, relationships, these

decisions need to be on the basis of character, integrity and

principle, not window dressing.





The young women in this Persian marriage raffle were given cosmetics

and special diets so as to appear before the king with the very best

complexion – even if it had to be manufactured!





One lady said, "I smiled the other day when I came across the results

of a survey which found that 15% of the women questioned tinted their

hair, 22% wore false eyelashes, 38% periodically wore wigs or

hairpieces, 80% wore rouge or some kind of facial cosmetics, 93% used

nail polish, 98% wore some kind of eye makeup, and 100% voted in favor

of a resolution condemning any kind of false packaging.” (Carolina

Cooperator, in Quote Unquote, comp. Lloyd Cory, Wheaton, Ill.,

Scripture Press, 1977, p. 364)





If you want to make good choices – don't base your decisions on outward

appearance alone!





King Xerxes, along with his bitter and biased advisors, could teach a

clinic on how not to make good decisions.





On the other hand, there is a character in the book of Esther who

shines proper light on the topic - Mordecai.





5 Now there was a Jewish man in the palace of Susa whose name was

Mordecai son of Jair. Jair was the son of Shimei, the son of Kish.

Mordecai was from the tribe of Benjamin, 6 which had been taken captive

from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. They were part of the

group taken into captivity with Jehoiachin king of Judah.7 Mordecai had

a cousin named Hadassah, who had no father or mother, so Mordecai took

care of her. Hadassah was also called Esther, and she had a very pretty

figure and face. Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter when her

father and mother died. Esther 2:5-7 (NCV)


Learn from Mordecai how to make good decisions.





3. Consider the needs of others.





Mordecai adopted Esther as his own daughter when her parents died. This

was a clearly selfless act. It was an act of love. Another mouth to

feed and another soul to watch over wouldn't have been easy in normal

times, let alone while living in exile in a foreign country.





How often do we make decisions based solely on what the outcome will

mean to us? Too often I'm afraid.





We've arrived at mature decision making when we take into consideration

the affects of our choices on others.





But Mordecai's example of making good choices doesn’t end here.





10 Esther did not tell anyone about her family or who her people were,

because Mordecai had told her not to. 11 Every day Mordecai walked back

and forth near the courtyard where the king's women lived to find out

how Esther was and what was happening to her. Esther 2:10-11 (NCV)





If I want to make good choices I must learn to…





4. Do the right thing at the right time.





Timing is very important in good decision making.





I've jumped ahead a few paragraphs in the story. By this time Esther

has been forced into the king's harem for consideration as queen.

Before ending up there, Mordecai had given her one valuable piece of

advice to not tell anyone that she was Jewish.





Current events tell us how much hatred exists toward the Jews even

today. One Palestinian woman in a Florida demonstration not long ago

screamed for Jews to go back to the oven, calling for the Jewish

counter-protesters to die in the manner that the Nazis used to

exterminate Jews during the Holocaust.





There were citizens in ancient Persia who had similar feelings toward

Jews so Mordecai wisely advised Esther to keep her ancestry private.





Later, a time would arise to divulge this information. But this wasn't

the right time.





A lot of bad decisions are made in life when we try to do the right

thing at the wrong time!





Moses is a classic biblical character with this problem. As an Egyptian

prince he wanted to intervene for the Jews but in rushing the plan of

God he murdered an Egyptian that was abusing a Jew. Later his timing

was off when he got frustrated with the rock that was supposed to

miraculously provide water in the desert. He hit the rock instead of

talking to as God had instructed. Bad decisions based on bad timing.





Bad timing is usually a matter of impatience and getting ahead of God's

timing. We make wrong choices financially a lot because we don't want

to wait to have what we want. We want to buy it now on credit when it

would be wise to wait and pay cash.





But our timing can be off in so many areas by rushing God. We can also

lag behind God and drag our feet when God wants us to move. Learning

good timing for decision making takes walking with God and trusting in

His leadership. Now one biblical precept of good decision making from

Esther herself.





5. Practice teachability.





Esther had been taken to the palace and given the year long beauty

treatments and she had become a favorite of the chamberlain in charge

of the young ladies being considered for queen of Persia. In fact the

Bible says about Esther,





The time came for Esther daughter of Abihail, Mordecai's uncle, who had

been adopted by Mordecai, to go to the king. She asked for only what

Hegai suggested she should take. (Hegai was the king's eunuch who was

in charge of the women.) Everyone who saw Esther liked her. Esther 2:15

(NCV)





Turns out the king liked her more than any of the other women in

consideration for the crown.





And the king was pleased with Esther more than with any of the other

virgins. He liked her more than any of the others, so he put a royal

crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti. Esther 1:17

(NCV)





What was it about Esther that made the king choose her? And it wasn't

just her beauty.





For one thing we know God was involved.





The Lord can control a king's mind as he controls a river; he can

direct it as he pleases. Proverbs 21:1 (NCV)





But don't think that God didn't use Esther's natural qualities in the

process. Don’t think that even though God is sovereign that He hasn't

also given us freedom to choose. God chooses people to carry out His

plans because He sees they have the right attitudes as well as

aptitudes. The quality that stands out most about Esther is her

teachability.





She was open to the suggestion of the king's chamberlain. We don't know

what he told her to take to her casting call: "Take this perfume, it's

the king’s favorite;" or, "Take your harp, he likes to be sung to." All

we know is it must have been good advice. And just as Esther had

followed Mordecai's advice earlier not to reveal her Jewish blood, she

now follows the chamberlain's advice.





We began our list of precepts on good decision making talking about

being cautious of bad advice (be cautious of the advice of bitter

people, people who have an axe to grind, people with an agenda). But

don't make the mistake of going to the other extreme and not be willing

to take any advice at all. Choose the right people from whom to take

advice but practice teachability.





Choose people who love you and have proven their willingness to make

sacrifices for you like Mordecai did Esther.





Choose people who have experience in an area like Esther chose the

king's chamberlain.





But don't make the mistake of thinking you don't have anything to learn

from others. (James 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5)





What training Esther must have had to have this spirit – this teachable

spirit! And surely this was one of the things that made her so

likeable.





Are we training our children and grandchildren to have this teachable

spirit? Are we a role model before them of someone with a teachable

spirit?





We'll make better choices in life when we learn to listen for advice

instead of going off as know-it-alls who can't be told anything new.





1. Be careful of taking advice from biased parties.


2. Don’t base your decisions solely on outward appearances.


3. Be considerate of the needs of others.


4. Do the right thing at the right time.


5. Practice teachability.





We've all made bad choices, bad decisions. But failure doesn't have to

be fatal. With the wisdom of God's Word we can turn things around. We

can enjoy the spiritual success of good decision making.





"Carl Michalson, a brilliant young theologian who died in a plane crash

some years ago, once told about playing with his young son one

afternoon. They were tussling playfully on their front lawn when

Michalson accidentally hit the young boy in the face with his elbow. It

was a sharp blow full to his son's face.





"The little boy was stunned by the impact of the elbow. It hurt, and he

was just about to burst into tears. But then he looked into his

father's eyes. Instead of anger and hostility, he saw there his

father's sympathy and concern; he saw there his father's love and

compassion. Instead of exploding into tears, the little boy suddenly

burst into laughter. What he saw in his father's eyes made all the

difference!





The sharp blow of God's message to us is: Repentance. Change our minds

about the choices we make. Start being more wise in how we make our

decisions. God is not interested in hurting you. He's interested in

helping you.
]]> Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:31:14 -0330 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3561/our-attitude-about-fear-part-3-of-esther https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3561




Esther 3:1-4:14





Do you remember where you were when you first heard about the terrorist


attacks on 9-11?





Furthermore, do you remember how you felt?





Most Americans felt a lot of sorrow, anger and heartache, not only for


the victims of the terrorist attacks and their families, but also for


our entire nation, because we saw a raw example of how some people on


this planet want to see nothing less than the annihilation of America.





Think of how we felt on 9-11 as a small indication of how Esther and


her people, the Jews, felt in ancient Persia about four or five years


after she became queen.





We're in the third part of this series in the book of Esther.





Last time in this series we learned that lovely Esther, who was as


beautiful on the inside as she was outside, became the new Queen of


ancient Persia. You might mistake what happened to Esther as a


Cinderella ending, if that were indeed the end of the story. Turns out


it was only the beginning.





As is the case in all of our lives, the sun doesn't shine every day.


The storm clouds that begin to appear on the horizon in chapter 3 of


Esther look very ominous for her and her people the Jews. A wicked


officer in the court of King Xerxes named Haman becomes upset with


Mordecai, Esther's adoptive father, because Mordecai won't kneel down


and pay honor to him.





Haman had bribed and blustered his way into the king's favor and had


become a V.I.P. in Persia. But it was mostly smoke and mirrors. He was


an insecure man who needed constant affirmation, even if it meant the


king passing a law that called for everyone to bow down to him.





Nothing wrong with receiving affirmation every once in a while but when


you need constant affirmation it's a sure sign of serious insecurity.


You need to get help. Haman needed help. But instead of asking for


help, he sought approval in the wrong way.





Haman's motto was, "Every time I walk by I want everyone to bow down to


me!"





As a conscientious Jew, Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. He refused to


play his silly game. Consequently, Haman hated Mordecai. Then, when he


found out about Mordecai being Jewish, his hate-filled mind and heart


decides to plot, not only for Mordecai's death, but also for the death


of all the Jews in the Persian Empire. We pick up the story in chapter


3 of Esther.





8 Then Haman said to King Xerxes, "There is a certain group of people


scattered among the other people in all the states of your kingdom.


Their customs are different from those of all the other people, and


they do not obey the king's laws. It is not right for you to allow them


to continue living in your kingdom. 9 If it pleases the king, let an


order be given to destroy those people. Then I will pay seven hundred


fifty thousand pounds of silver to those who do the king's business,


and they will put it into the royal treasury." Esther 3:8-9 (NCV)





King Xerxes, so easily manipulated by money and baseless argument,


agrees to Haman's wicked plan. He didn't even investigate Haman's


claims. He didn't even try to understand the other side of the story.





10 So the king took his signet ring off and gave it to Haman son of


Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jewish people.11 Then the


king said to Haman, "The money and the people are yours. Do with them


as you please."





12 On the thirteenth day of the first month, the royal secretaries were


called, and they wrote out all of Haman's orders. They wrote to the


king's governors and to the captains of the soldiers in each state and


to the important men of each group of people. The orders were written


in the writing of each state and in the language of each people. They


were written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with his signet


ring. 13 Letters were sent by messengers to all the king’s empire


ordering them to destroy, kill, and completely wipe out all the Jewish


people. That meant young and old, women and little children, too. It


was to happen on a single day - the thirteenth day of the twelfth


month, which was Adar. And they could take everything the Jewish people


owned. 14 A copy of the order was given out as a law in every state so


all the people would be ready for that day.





15 The messengers set out, hurried by the king's command, as soon as


the order was given in the palace at Susa. The king and Haman sat down


to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion. Esther 3:10-15 (NCV)





Long before there was a Hitler there was a Haman. If you have a grasp


of how evil Hitler was, or how evil the terrorists of 9-11 were, you


get an idea of Haman's disposition. His evil plan saw to it that every


single Jew - man, woman and child throughout the entire Persian Empire


was to be killed on the same day.





Messengers crisscross the empire to publish the news and a collective


gasp can be heard throughout the land.





1 When Mordecai heard about all that had been done, he tore his


clothes, put on rough cloth and ashes, and went out into the city


crying loudly and painfully. 2 But Mordecai went only as far as the


king's gate, because no one was allowed to enter that gate dressed in


rough cloth. 3 As the king's order reached every area, there was great


sadness and loud crying among the Jewish people. They fasted and cried


out loud, and many of them lay down on rough cloth and ashes to show


how sad they were. Esther 4:1-3 (NCV)





What do you do when your heart aches so badly that you can't even eat


and barely want to move?





The bad news is all of us are going to face heartache sooner or later.


In fact, most of us already know the bitterness of heartache.





The good news is that we don't have to be afraid of it if we're walking


with God. The high point in the story of Esther is how she and the


Jewish people respond to this threat against their very existence!





What is it that makes you feel threatened? What do you fear? What


breaks your heart?





Whatever it is - God is bigger and there are ways for you to


effectively work with God as He heals your heartaches.





HELPS for Healing Heartache





1. Reject the diagnosis of fear and get a second opinion from God!





This is a recurring biblical theme. There are a lot of places in the


Bible where we're told that the Christ follower does not need to live


in fear. Fear shouldn't dominate us. Fear is one of Satan's biggest


tools to rob us of the healing God has for heartaches.





I don't say this because I think that fear dominated Mordecai. On the


contrary. If it had, he would have gone into hiding. Instead he


publicly showed his displeasure with Haman's wicked plot and began a


period of fasting and crying out to God for help.





Whatever it is that threatens your spiritual, emotional, relational,


mental or physical well being, you've got to reject the diagnosis of


fear. Don't give your problems so much credit. Sometimes our heartaches


are magnified because we inflate our fears instead of deflating them.



Overcoming your fear is the first step to healing. Here's a true story


that illustrates the foolishness of inflating our fears.





During his reign of terror between 1875 and 1883, Black Bart was


credited with stealing the valuables and the breath away from


twenty-nine different Wells Fargo stagecoach crews. In journals from


San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with danger on


the frontier.





What's most remarkable is that this professional thief accomplished his


escapades without ever firing a shot!





His weapon was his reputation. His ammunition was intimidation. A hood


hid his face. No victim ever saw him. No artist ever sketched his


features. No sheriff could ever track his trail. He never took a


hostage. He didn't have to. His presence was enough to paralyze.





Black Bart. A hooded bandit armed with a deadly weapon. What was that


weapon? One word - FEAR!





As it turned out, he really wasn't anyone to be afraid of. When the


authorities finally tracked him down, they didn't find a bloodthirsty


bandit from Death Valley. They found a mild-mannered druggist from


Decatur, Illinois. The man the papers pictured storming through the


mountains on horseback was, in reality, so afraid of horses he rode to


and from his robberies in a buggy. He was Charles E. Boles - the


bandit, who never once fired a shot, because he never even loaded his


gun!





Who or what is the bandit without a loaded gun in your life? What fear


are you giving more credit to than God?





Haman's wicked plot to murder all the Jews was indeed cause for


concern. But there's no way God was going to let that happen. God had


made promises to the Jewish people. He was going to bless all the


nations of the earth through them. (Genesis 12) Through the Jews we


have the written Word of God, the Bible. And through them we have the


Living Word of God, Jesus, who said,





28And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the


soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in


hell. 29Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one


of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave (consent)


and notice. Jesus, Matthew 10:28,29 (NCV)





We need to be more concerned about the condemnation of God than the


death sentence of human beings. Furthermore, Jesus insists that there


is no detail of our lives, no matter how small, of which He is not


aware!





We need to give our fears less credit and give God more! Reject the


diagnosis of fear and get a second opinion from God.





Here's another help for heartache from the book of Esther.





2. Re-examine our attitude about testing.





What does the doctor do when we go to him or her for aches and pains?


The doctor puts us through an appropriate barrage of tests.





Life is like that. We're going to be tested spiritually. The key is to


expect testing as a part of the healing process.





Again we look to Jesus for our attitude about trouble and heartache.





"I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this


world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world."


John 16:33 (NCV)





We can expect to run into people like Haman. Why did Haman hate the


Jews so much that he longed for their extinction?





The Bible says that Haman was an "Agagite." (Esther 3:10) That probably


means that he was a descendant of Agag, King of the Amelikites. The


Amelikites were the group of people that attacked the Jews after their


Exodus from Egypt. The Jews were exhausted, they were trudging through


unknown territory and the opportunistic Amelikites attack the


Israelites from behind. (See Numbers 14:45; 1 Samuel 15:2) That's just


like the devil and his henchmen. They hit you when and where you're the


most vulnerable!





However, the Amelikites didn't know with whom they were messing! God


declared war on the Amelikites and the Israelites defeated them with


God's help. [This is also probably why Mordecai would not bow to Haman.


He knew that Haman was God's enemy.]





Haman most likely grew up hearing the story of how the Israelites had


whipped his ancestors. His formative years were most likely spent


nursing a grudge against the Jews because his parents and their parents


before them made derogatory and inflammatory comments about Jewish


people. Now, forgetting the hand of God, he takes it upon himself to


engage in payback.





Bitterness and bias and prejudice are cancerous. They eat away at the


insides of a person. Haman was eaten up with hatred for what had


happened generations before him. How irrational, yet how normal for the


human heart without the healing hand of God.





You and I can expect to run into people like Haman. They will resent


our devotion to the Lord. They're nursing wounds that don't have


anything to do with us.








When I live for Christ I need to be aware that there will be


opposition. Now remember our first help we don't have to accept fear's


diagnosis - especially fear of opposition - but we do need to be aware


of it. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. I'm prepared when I have


sense enough to know what's coming.





A big part of our dealing with our headaches and heartaches is


ATTITUDE. It's psychological. Instead of having a "woe is me" attitude


we can say, "That's all right. I knew there were going to be heartaches


and I'm ready."





If I follow Christ and His teachings it's not going to tickle everybody


around me.





Expect testing. If and when you do you will be less threatened by it.


You will realize that it's normal. It's part of the healing process.


Don't fear it. Just expect it and don't take it personal.





3. Follow God's prescription of personal involvement.





When word reached Esther of Haman's fiendish plot to kill all Jews it


was through a communication from Mordecai to ask her to plead to the


king for mercy. Esther's reply to Mordecai showed hesitancy. She said,





"All the royal officers and people of the royal states know that no man


or woman may go to the king in the inner courtyard without being


called. There is only one law about this: Anyone who enters must be put


to death unless the king holds out his gold scepter. Then that person


may live. And I have not been called to go to the king for thirty


days." Esther 4:11 (NCV)





Sometimes people go to the doctor with a severe illness and the doctor


prescribes life-threatening surgery. In other words the surgery may


save their life or take their life. The patient has to sign forms


saying they realize the risks they're taking. I think this is the


decision that Esther was weighing.





On the other hand, Mordecai's reply is confident and firm. His words


have come down through history as a classic response to all of us when


we face heartache and need reassurance and a little kick in the seat of


our britches.





"Just because you live in the king's palace, don't think that out of


all the Jewish people you alone will escape. 14 If you keep quiet at


this time, someone else will help and save the Jewish people, but you


and your father's family will all die. And who knows, you may have been


chosen queen for just such a time as this." Esther 4:13b-14 (NCV)





Remember how we said last week that timing is a key to good decision


making? Well now it was time for Esther to speak up and make a plea to


the king for her people the Jews. There is a time to keep our mouth


shut and there's a time to open it. This was a time to open it.





Mordecai was reminding her that the risk was not lessened because she


was in the palace. Either she spoke up and risked being killed by the


king now - or she kept quiet and was killed later on the set day of


genocide. There are just some problems that procrastination can't solve.





When our hearts are aching its easy to justify complacency. It's easy


to rationalize compromise. We feel smug in our do-nothing posture.


There's a time to wait on God and then there's a time to get cracking.


There's a time for sticking our neck out for God, for others, and for


what's right.





Our part is to trust God and get involved! We need to believe that He


has a plan for us no matter what heartaches and setbacks have beset us.


He has a plan for our relationships - even if past relationships have


gone awry, God still has a plan. He has a plan for our finances. He has


a plan for our jobs. He has a plan for every area of our lives!





God is a planning God! He always has a plan!





My part is to plug into that plan! God put Esther in the palace in


order to be a part of His plan to save the Jews!





God has put you where you are "for such a time as this."
]]> Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:53:57 -0330 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3560/prayer-with-fasting-part-4-of-esther https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3560






Esther 4:15-5:14





During the minister's prayer one Sunday, there was a loud whistle from


one of the back row seats. Little Gary's mother was horrified. She


pinched him into silence and, after church, asked, "Gary, whatever made


you do such a thing?"





Gary answered soberly, "I asked God to teach me to whistle, and He just


then did!"





You have to admit the boy believed in prayer!





But I wonder sometimes if we believe in it as much as we say we do.





We're still in the series on the book of Esther, and this week we're


going to see that Esther not only believed in prayer - she believed in


prayer WITH FASTING.





God is indeed at work in my life, as we’ve been observing throughout


Esther's story, but His work is intensified and magnified when I pray


AND FAST! Prayer with fasting is one of the most powerful but perhaps


one of the least used spiritual success tools in the life of the


average Christ follower.





Fasting is going without food voluntarily in order to give your self


more attentively to God and to prayer. You can fast by skipping one


meal and spending that time in prayer, or you can fast for an entire


day, or, in some serious cases of need, several days. This is what


Esther decided in response to Haman's plot to have all the Jews in the


Persian Empire murdered. When she found out about the plot from her


adoptive father Mordecai, he challenged her to speak to the king on


behalf of her people.





15 Then Esther sent this answer to Mordecai: 16 "Go and get all the


Jewish people in Susa together. For my sake, fast; do not eat or drink


for three days, night and day. I and my servant girls will also fast.


Then I will go to the king, even though it is against the law, and if I


die, I die." 17 So Mordecai went away and did everything Esther had


told him to do. Esther 4:15-17





Esther asks her fellow Jews to specifically go to God for her in prayer


and fasting since she has decided to accept Mordecai's counsel to go


before King Xerxes uninvited. She asks them to go beyond the ordinary


types of fasting. She asked them to abstain from food AND DRINK. Normal


fasting is just abstaining from food. She also requested 3 days. A


normal fast for a Jew would have been from sundown one day until


sundown the next. She was calling for an extraordinary fast for an


especially difficult case.





Remember; the Persian king was an authoritarian ruler. If you came


before him without an invitation and he didn't hold out his royal


scepter to you then you would automatically be executed. Esther decided


to risk her life to plead for the lives of all her fellow Jews in


Persia. But first she wanted a three-day-period of fasting and prayer


to ensue.





What is it about fasting with prayer that the ancient Jews knew, and


Christ followers today know, is so powerful? Why did Esther consider


this the best possible preparation before taking a great step of faith?








From a human point of view, everything was against Esther and the


success of her mission. The law was against her, because nobody was


allowed to interrupt the king. The government was against her, for the


decree said that she was to be slain. Her sex was against her, because


the king's attitude toward women was worse than chauvinistic. The


officers were against her, because they did only those things to


establish good favor with Haman. In one sense, even the fast could be


against her; for going three days without food and drink would not


necessarily improve her appearance or physical strength.





But if God be for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 (KJV)


[Say that out loud!]





That is the power of prayer and fasting! That's why Esther utilized it.


Through prayer and fasting we position ourselves where God can most


possibly bless us!





When you have a situation facing you, the solution of which seems to


have no human answer - then prayer and fasting is a great resource for


you!





Esther was about to take a stand before the king. Before she took a


stand before the King - She was going to take a stand on Her Knees.





Last time we talked about the importance of taking a stand. We have to


get involved. We've got to get in the game. God has SHAPED each one of


us, "for such a time as this." He blessed us to be a blessing. God did


not create us to be spectators when it came to ministry and mission!


He's not a spectator! God get's involved in our lives! And He expects


us to get involved in the lives of others!





How effective is prayer and fasting in helping us take our stand? Let's


look at what happened AFTER Esther and the Jews fasted for three days


and BEFORE she went before the king uninvited.





Esther 5:1 - On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood


in the inner courtyard of the king's palace, facing the king's hall.


The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the


doorway. [Esther didn't just appear before the king; she appeared


boldly! She positioned herself directly in his line of sight!] 2 When


the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, he was pleased. He


held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand, so Esther went


forward and touched the end of it.





3 The king asked, "What is it, Queen Esther? What do you want to ask


me? I will give you as much as half of my kingdom."





What a positive response to the prayer and fasting of Esther and her


friends! Not only did the king hold out the golden scepter, sparing


Esther's life, but he offered as much as half of his kingdom to her!


This response tells us that prayer with fasting - especially if you can


get your friends to join you - is extremely powerful!





What is so great about prayer with fasting? What does it do for us? A


lot of things - but we're only going to emphasize two this week.





1. PRAYER AND FASTING INCREASES INSIGHT.





During the three days of prayer and fasting God had been giving Esther


a plan. God always has a plan but we don't always get it. Prayer and


fasting helps us understand God's plan.





The king could see Esther's confidence because she and others with her


had been intensifying their efforts at knowing God's will. So the king


asks her what's on her mind. Her stand has aroused his curiosity. What


is so important to her that she has risked her life for it?





4 Esther answered, "My king, if it pleases you, come today with Haman


to a banquet that I have prepared for you." (Circle that word,


"prepared." That's one of the things prayer and fasting does. It


prepares us. God's already prepared! God already wants to bless us! We


don't pray and fast to change God. We fast and pray to prepare our


selves for the blessings that God is going to pour out!)





5 Then the king said, "Bring Haman quickly so we may do what Esther


asks."





So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared for them.


6 As they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, "Now, what are


you asking for? I will give it to you. What is it you want? I will give


you as much as half of my kingdom." [Prayer with fasting is so powerful


that the king is tripping over his royal robes to give Esther as much


as half of his kingdom!]





7 Esther answered, "This is what I want and what I ask for. 8 My king,


if you are pleased with me and if it pleases you, give me what I ask


for and do what I want. Come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will


prepare for you. Then I will answer your question about what I want."


[I would say something here about how women try to manipulate men but


not only would that get me in trouble, because, of course, men also try


to manipulate women, but also because I don't think this was


manipulation on Esther's part. I don't think she's being coy. I think


she was employing that characteristic of TIMING that we talked about in


earlier chapters. Mordecai counseled Esther that there was a time to


refrain from telling the Persians that she was Jewish - and later there


was a time to speak up and let her ethnic origin be know.]





9 Haman left the king's palace that day happy and content. But when he


saw Mordecai at the king's gate and saw that Mordecai did not stand up


or tremble with fear before him, Haman became very angry with Mordecai.


10 But he controlled his anger and went home. Then Haman called


together his friends and his wife, Zeresh. 11 He told them how wealthy


he was and how many sons he had. [What a braggart!] He also told them


all the ways the king had honored him and how the king had placed him


higher than his important men and his royal officers. 12 He also said,


"I'm the only person Queen Esther invited to come with the king to the


banquet she gave. And tomorrow also the queen has asked me to be her


guest with the king. 13 But all this does not really make me happy when


I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate."





14 Then Haman's wife, Zeresh, and all his friends said, "Have a


seventy-five foot platform built, and in the morning ask the king to


have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and be


happy." Haman liked this suggestion, so he ordered the platform to be


built.





Haman is this incredibly insecure, hate-filled, sardonic dude. He comes


home crying like a spoiled brat that Mordecai still doesn't respect


him.





Pause for a moment to ask yourself, "Is there someone in my life who's


approval I seek to an unhealthy degree? Is there someone I want to


notice how important I am and it just ticks me off that they don't give


me the attention I want?" We're not talking about healthy attention


here. We all need healthy affirmation. We're talking about a co-worker,


or a neighbor or perhaps someone who is friends with one of our friends.





Do you ever find yourself wanting to say, "You can't be friends with


her/him, cause she's/he's my friend."





You can expect that kind of behavior out of junior high students. But


it shouldn't be normal for adults. And yet there are a lot of folks


like Haman. Here's a good piece of advice. QUIT BLAMING OTHERS FOR YOUR


UNHAPPINESS.





Be honest with yourself about your insecurity, jealousy, envy or


unhealthy competition for attention. You may have the same problem


Haman had. I want to talk well write to you next week on how to defeat


this next week.





You say, "Haman was an Agagite. He hated all Jews because of his


background." That's right. And this attitude was racist and it was


wrong.





But Haman had a particular, a specific hatred, for Mordecai that


transcended his disgust with all Jews. Mordecai was an important man in


the capital city. He sat at the gate, which was a sign of influence and


importance. Haman wanted to be "more important" than Mordecai. Be


careful of wanting to be "more important" than everyone else.





His wife should have said, "Get over your self Haman." But she knew his


insecurities better than any one and she had mothered him too long. Now


she tells him just what he wants to hear. "Build a gallows so big that


everyone will see it and hang Mordecai on it!"





Is that what you want your friends to do? When you whine and complain


and carry on about how someone wouldn't play your game do you want your


family and friends to escalate matters by foolish suggestions? Do you


want them to tell you what you want to hear? Remember we learned


earlier in Esther that we need people who tell us what we need to hear


not what we want to hear.





Why does the Bible give us these insights into the heart and mind and


life of Haman? Because God wants us to see others insightfully. He


wants us to have insights into our own thoughts and emotions. PRAYER


WITH FASTING HELPS US OBTAIN SUCH INSIGHTS.





Prayer and fasting not only INCREASES INSIGHT. Prayer and fasting had


provided a safe audience for Esther with the king. But now Haman's plot


against Esther's adopted father Mordecai intensifies the stress for


Esther - which highlights another great by-product of prayer and


fasting.





2. PRAYER AND FASTING REDUCES STRESS.





Esther was living in a very stress-filled environment. And so are we.





"With today's constant media barrage of bad news, people feel bad


enough already and don't want anything that makes them feel worse, says


anthropologist-turned-brand-strategist Cheryl Swanson. With all the


info coming at us 24/7, We are processing information at 400 times the


rate of our Renaissance ancestors. This is a new human task that we


haven't had time to adapt to yet - physically or mentally. That's why


we're getting tech-related health problems like carpal tunnel, and


maybe even mental and neurological problems like attention-deficit


disorder. Naturally our attention is fraying - we are whipsawed by


stimuli!





"Moreover, with that 400 times more information did not come 400 more


hours in a day. So, we steal that time from sleep, both deliberately


(by working late into the night) and not (by being too wound up to


drift off). Hence another big trend: The growing sleep industry, with


new pills, pillows, all trying to help us get the ZZZ's we need.





"Another byproduct of trying to pack too much into the day is the


erosion of dinnertime. This, of course, is nothing new. In the 60's,


dinner was (supposedly) 45 minutes long. By the 90's, it had shrunk to


15 minutes. As Swanson's investigators traveled the country, dropping


in on real families, they found the sit-down dinner had evaporated


almost entirely. It is now basically five minutes, says Swanson. And


it's not even sitting down.





"Families (or chunks of them) eat standing up around the kitchen


counter. When parents are not available, kids prepare themselves


"latchkey dinners." (Advertising Age 11/13/07, via Church Leaders


Intelligence Report)





And there's this brief article.





"Mark Earley recently observed: From Starbucks, to Red Bull, to No-Doz,


Americans are showing signs of addiction to caffeine. Sixty percent of


us drink a cup of coffee a day. On average we drink 52 gallons of soda


a year. And Starbucks - they get a whopping $5.3 billion of our


collective dough.





"Whether we are chemically stimulated because we do not get enough


sleep, or whether the caffeine itself is depriving us of precious rest,


we also are sleeping less than ever before. Americans get an average of


six and a half hours of sleep a night, a 25% drop since the early


1990's No wonder we are stressed. (Breakpoint, 1/17/08)





There are all kinds of suggestions floating about on how we can


effectively handle our stress-filled lives. I read an article the other


day, "Stress Management Tips," that recommended everything from


switching to decaf to scheduling "worry time." I don't think those are


bad things but I do believe there is something even better - something


that will not only help us manage our stress but help us to conquer it!





Prayer and fasting made Esther calm and even able to wait on the Lord's


timing one more day. It turned out that one last day was when God was


going to set the stage completely for His answer to the prayers of His


people. In fact, prayer and fasting is a great habit when you have a


big decision to make in life. Don't get in a hurry and go off


half-cocked.





The Bible intentionally showcases Haman's pride and anger (remember how


we saw in chapter one that the two are entwined) beside Esther's cool,


calm and collected demeanor. Esther is walking closely with God so she


is able to conquer stress, while Haman is unstable, unwise and on the


brink of a foolish disaster.





Last week we saw that even Jesus said that we're going to have stress.


It's a given. Every life is going to have stress. Prayer and fasting is


a great way to respond to and be prepared for it.





Prayer and fasting helps you walk more closely with God and you begin


to see that stressful times may actually produce positive results.





We remain calm in conflict through prayer and fasting because as we


walk with God we see how He is at work even in the midst of tough


times! The Hamans of this world and all the conflict they stir up can't


persuade us. Instead of anxiety, fear and worry we maintain an attitude


of confidence, faith and optimism! We know that God is going to do


something good even when times are hard!





PRAYER WITH FASTING INCREASES our INSIGHT and REDUCES our STRESS.





That's only part of the incredible power you get from prayer and fasting!
]]> Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:09:20 -0330 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3559/dont-ignore-the-symptoms-part-5-of-esther https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3559




Esther 6:1-7:10







I've known people, people I loved, family and friends, who would


probably still be alive today if they had not ignored symptoms of poor


health. If they had only gone for a checkup sooner. I'm sure some of


you have had a similar experience.





I think fear and misinformation keep a lot of people from getting a


checkup, when in reality, a checkup would allow their condition to be


diagnosed in time for them to do something about it.





The same thing is true spiritually. A lot of people ignore symptoms of


spiritual problems and they mistakenly think that by ignoring them


their condition will get better on its own. Not true. God is constantly


communicating to us – through circumstances, through the Bible, by the


Holy Spirit, and by Christ followers in the church – that we need to


deal with spiritual problems in our lives.





As we've seen in this series, God IS at work in our lives - but He


allows and expects us to work with Him!





God is communicating to us that He loves us and wants to help us


effectively deal with our problems. As we've been emphasizing in this


series, however, we need to work with God. We need to let Him diagnose


our spiritual condition and then work with Him to heal our hurts,


habits and hangups.





So that's why we're going to focus this week on "Our Symptoms Of


Spiritual Problems."





If you can remember we are in the book of Esther, So far, in the first


5 chapters of the book of Esther…





Esther, a Jewish orphan girl, became queen of ancient Persia because of


God's providence and also due to her inner, as well as outer beauty.





Esther's adoptive father, Mordecai, became an influential part of


Persian society in the capital city of Susa. He sits at the city's


gate, a sign of prestige and honor. He is Esther's godly and wise


mentor.





Haman, a petty and insecure hi-ranking member, perhaps Prime Minister


of King Xerxes cabinet, hates Mordecai because he won't bow to him. He


builds a huge platform on which to have Mordecai hanged. He hates all


Jews and manipulates the king into passing a decree that will have all


Jews killed on a single day.





Esther and her friends pray with fasting for three days and God touches


the heart of the king, allowing Esther to have an audience with him


without an appointment, a risky business, since appearing at the king's


court without being on his agenda is usually cause for execution.





We're not going to have time to read it today, but in chapter 6 of


Esther the undeniable hand of God is once again at work.





Unable to sleep one night King Xerxes ordered his royal records be read


to him. (Maybe he thought they were dull enough to put him to sleep.)


One entry describes how Mordecai, through Esther, 5 years earlier, had


forewarned him of an assassination plot by two of his attendants. He


further learned that he had done nothing to repay Mordecai for his


loyalty.





This is a truly fascinating example of God's timing. Sometimes we


expect God to do something for us now but He waits, knowing that later


will be a better time for us. "God's delays are not God's denials."





At the same time that the king was reminded of how Mordecai saved his


life and had not yet been honored for it, Haman has come to see the


king about having Mordecai hung on the platform he had prepared for


just such a purpose.





Since Haman is in the palace at this hour, the king asks him what


should be done for a man that the king wants to honor. The king of


course is talking about Mordecai but Haman thinks that he's talking


about him. So Haman lays it on thick. "Put a royal crown on his head;


let him ride on your own horse – even put a crown on the horse's head


(how over the top!); put a robe on the honored man and lead him through


the streets and have it announced, 'This is what is done for the man


whom the king wants to honor.'" (v9c)





Then…the poetic justice sets in. The king commands Haman to do these


things for Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king's gate. Haman's jaw


probably dropped so low it hit the palace floor! Humiliated, Haman has


to follow through. He leads Mordecai around the city streets on the


king's horse, crown and all, proclaiming Mordecai's greatness. Then he


goes home and tells his wife and friends what happened and before long


it's time to attend the banquet that Esther had prepared for him and


the king.





At the 2nd banquet for King Xerxes and Haman, Esther finally tells the


king that she's a Jew and that her request of him is to stop the plot


to have all Jews in Persia killed.





Esther chapter 7:





5 Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he? Who


has done such a thing?"





6 Esther said, "Our enemy and foe is this wicked Haman!"





[Haman finds himself in a "lineup" and he's the only one in the room!]





Then Haman was filled with terror before the king and queen.





7 The king was very angry, so he got up, left his wine, and went out


into the palace garden. But Haman stayed inside to beg Queen Esther to


save his life. He could see that the king had already decided to kill


him.





8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, he


saw Haman falling on the couch where Esther was lying. The king said,


"Will he even attack the queen while I am in the house?"





As soon as the king said that, servants came in and covered Haman's


face.





9 Harbona, one of the eunuchs there serving the king, said, "Look, a


seventy-five foot platform stands near Haman's house. This is the one


Haman had prepared for Mordecai, who gave the warning that saved the


king." The king said, "Hang Haman on it!"





10 So they hanged Haman on the platform he had prepared for Mordecai.


Then the king was not so angry anymore.





What went so wrong in Haman's life that he became such a blindly


egotistical cold-hearted and contemptuous man? Why had he become so


dangerous, so malicious, so much of a threat to society that God had to


judge him? What led him to the ending of being hung on the gallows he


built for another?





Somewhere along the line, Haman had ignored the symptoms of a disease


that was slowly but surely eating away at his life. We'll look at these


because we too can ignore these symptoms to our own peril.





Here's one Symptom Spiritually we should never ignore,





COUNTING CRAVINGS INSTEAD OF COUNTING BLESSINGS.





Haman was the second highest-ranking official in ancient Persia. He had


fame, wealth and power. When he traversed the streets of the capital


city everyone bowed. He should have been a very satisfied individual.





Instead he said,





"But all this does not really make me happy when I see that Jew


Mordecai sitting at the king's gate." (Esther 5:13)





Haman became obsessed with that one craving that he couldn't have and


it robbed him of peace and happiness in life. He was consumed by


Mordecai's continuous refusal to bow to him. It ate away at him that he


didn't have Mordecai's submission.





This has been a part of the human problem since the Garden of Eden.


Adam and Eve had everything! And yet they wanted more!





What is that one thing you crave in life that you think will make you


happy? Is it more money? Is it the respect or attention of that one


person you can't seem to please? Do you long to go on a reality show so


you can at least earn your "fifteen minutes of fame?"





Whatever you crave, don't ignore this symptom of counting your cravings


more than counting your blessings! It ruined Haman and it will mess up


your life too! If you're always seeing the glass half-empty, admit it


and do something about it. And here's what the Bible teaches we can do


about it.





"I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with


everything that happens. 12 I know how to live when I am poor, and I


know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being


happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat


and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not


have enough. 13 I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me


strength." Philippians 4:11b-13





I shouldn't place my hope in things, other people, or circumstances. My


hope is in Christ! No matter what!





Don't place your hope in another person. Your spouse isn't perfect.


Don't expect a perfect mate. Don't place your ultimate happiness in


them. Don't go around all the time bemoaning his or her weaknesses when


you could be enjoying their strengths. Don't make the mistake of


harping on the weaknesses of your children. Brag on and help them build


on their strengths. Correct them when they need it, but be much more


positive than you are negative to them. You ask, "How can I do this?"


Christ will give you strength!





When it comes to the situation in the world around us, don't be like


the evening news, always focusing on all the bad stuff. Make it a point


in life to focus on the good.





Take notice of the symptom spiritually of counting your cravings


instead of counting your blessings. Do something about it. Don't ignore


it.





Another symptom we can't ignore highlighted in the story of Esther…





WISHING TROUBLE FOR OTHERS INSTEAD OF THEIR SUCCESS.





Be honest, have you ever maliciously wanted someone else to fail? That


may be a symptom of an inner spiritual problem.





Haman being hung on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai is a


classic case of something that actually happens all the time. Things


like jealousy, bitterness, envy and ill will toward others don't affect


them – they only poison us. And if they're left unchecked these


attitudes will boomerang on us! Listen to what the Bible says.





14 There are people who think up evil and plan trouble and tell lies.


15 They dig a hole to trap others, but they will fall into it


themselves. 16 They will get themselves into trouble; the violence they


cause will hurt only themselves. Psalms 7:14-16





Don't ignore this symptom! Something's wrong when I want someone around


me to have trouble.





We need to re-direct our attitude and our actions when we find


ourselves wishing trouble to others.





Ask yourself, "Is there someone I wish trouble upon? Is there someone I


want to see fail?"





The Bible doesn't instruct us to want evil men or evil plans to


succeed. But if the only reason we want someone to fail is because they


don't give us the recognition we crave – then the problem is with us –


not them!





Do you have a co-worker, a neighbor, or a family member that you have


fantasies of them having hardship or trouble because they don't jump


when you snap your fingers? Something is wrong with our heart when we


engage in this type of thinking, especially if we actually do things or


fail to do things that would cause them hurt.





It can be as subtle as not speaking to someone or acknowledging their


presence because we're harboring some bad feelings about them in our


hearts.





What should we do when this symptom appears? Jesus said something


profoundly simple about this,





"…if you are angry with someone, forgive him so that your Father in


heaven will also forgive your sins." Mark 11:25





Forgiveness was the most important lesson best-selling author Tony


Hillerman learned as a kid on his first job. His story goes…





"I was 14 when Mr. Ingram knocked on our farmhouse door in Sacred


Heart, Oklahoma (pop. 38). The old sharecropper lived about a mile down


the road and needed help moving an alfalfa field. It was the first time


I was actually paid for work – about 12 cents an hour, not bad when you


consider it was 1939 and we were still mired in the Great Depression.





"Mr. Ingram liked the job I did and ended up hiring me to dig


postholes. I even helped to deliver a calf. One day he found an old


truck that was stuck in the soft, sandy soil of the melon patch. It was


loaded up with melons that someone had tried to steal before their


truck got bogged down.





"Mr. Ingram explained that the truck's owner would be returning soon,


and he wanted me to watch and learn. It wasn't long before a local guy


with a terrible reputation for fighting and stealing showed up with his


two full-grown sons. They looked really angry.





"Calmly Mr. Ingram said, 'Well, I see you was wantin' to buy some


watermelons.'





"There was a long silence before the man answered, 'Yeah, I guess so.


What are you wantin' for 'em?'





"Twenty-five cents each."





"Well, I guess that would be fair enough if you help me get my truck


out of here."





Hillerman continues, "It turned out to be our biggest sale of the


summer, and a nasty, perhaps violent incident had been avoided. After


they left, Mr. Ingram smiled and said to me, 'Son, if you don't forgive


your enemies, you're going to run out of friends.'" (What I Learned on


My Paper Route, Daniel Levine, Reader’s Digest, March 2002.)





Instead of wishing trouble for someone we are to forgive him or her.


Any real or imagined hurt or affront we know or believe them to have


directed toward us, like Haman's anger against Mordecai for not bowing


to him, is to be handled by Christ followers in the same manner that


our Father in heaven handles our sins – forgiveness.





Here are just a few Symptoms you should never ignore:





Counting cravings instead of counting blessings.





Wishing trouble, instead of success, for others. And…





NEVER BEING SATISFIED WITH SECOND PLACE.





It has been said that the most difficult instrument in the orchestra is


"second fiddle."





Haman didn't just want Mordecai executed because he couldn't be number


one as long as Mordecai was around – he was the kind of person that


wasn't going to stop plotting until he had the king's throne - and even


then he wouldn't have been satisfied!





Our culture is "Hamanistic." In sports, entertainment, and business,


the all-consuming goal is to be number one. If you aren't number one


you're just not as important in the eyes of many. If you don't make the


most money, if you don't have the most, if you aren't the most


beautiful or most handsome, if you aren't the smartest or don't have


the highest level of education, etc., then you're out of the spotlight.





Tragically this warped thinking has crept into our spiritual lives as


well. And the symptoms don't have to be as overt as they were in the


life of Haman for us to exhibit this symptom.





Speaking at the 2008 National Pastor’s Convention in San Diego, John


Ortberg related a conversation with Dallas Willard in which John posed


the question: "How do I determine how my spiritual life is doing?"





Willard responded by saying you should ask yourself two questions:





"Am I growing more or less irritated these days?"





"Am I growing more or less discouraged these days?"





If your answer to those questions is "more," it may be that you have


allowed your own ego to become the driving force in your sense of


personal ministry identity. Instead, our lives and ministries should be


centered on a vision of God. As Willard observes, 'Our life is not an


object of deep concern' when we have abandoned ourselves to a vision of


the Kingdom of God." (Preaching Now, 3/4/08)





How about you? Are you more or less irritated these days? More or less


discouraged? Have you, like Haman, allowed your own ego to become the


driving force in your personal sense of identity? When someone else is


number one in some area – in wealth, or attention, or abilities, or


ideas, whatever – can you say, "Good for them! They've been blessed in


those areas and praise God for it!"





If being second place is a problem for you…then it's a symptom in your


spiritual being that shouldn’t be ignored.





I wonder...





What if Haman had realized his sins at any point during the process in


which God was showing him his wrongs?





Everything we know about God says that He would have given him another


chance.





I believe Haman could have repented. He could have admitted his wrong


to himself and to others – he could have gone to Mordecai in humility


and learned about the God that was responsible for Mordecai's happy


life.





He could have said, "Mordecai, how did you not complain for five years


while the king never rewarded you for uncovering that assassination


plot? I would have been petitioning the king for all kinds of favors if


I had done what you did! What makes you able to be so satisfied and


happy in life? What makes you content?"





Instead, Haman persisted to allow him self to be filled with bitter


hatred, pride and envy against Mordecai and the Jews. He had all the


symptoms of a spiritual disease that was robbing him of inner peace and


that would eventually violently end his life –





1. He counted his cravings instead of counting his blessings.


2. He wished trouble instead of success for others.


3. He was never satisfied with second place.





He wouldn't treat these symptoms.





God warned him through circumstances – but he wouldn't heed the


warnings.





"Proud people will be ruined, but the humble will be honored." Proverbs


18:12





People like Haman that won't make way for God's discipline…people like


Haman, who was about to hurt a lot of other people, had to be judged to


save others.





"Whoever is stubborn after being corrected many times will suddenly be


hurt beyond cure." Proverbs 29:1





Don't be like Haman. Don't ignore the symptoms of spiritual disease in


your heart and mind and spirit.

]]> Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:04:07 -0330 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3558/the-temptation-of-feeling-small https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3558




Philippians 2:1-2:8







Do you Feel Small? You’re Not Alone! Have you ever felt

inadequate? Have you ever sensed that this feeling of inadequacy has

hindered your relationships from blossoming? Don't worry. All of us

have felt that way.





The temptation to feel inadequate even creeps into the church. We all

face this struggle. Consider the lyrics to "Stained Glass Masquerade"

by Casting Crowns.





"Is there anyone that fails? Is there anyone that falls? Am I the only

one in church today feelin' so small?





Cause when I take a look around everybody seems so strong. I know

they'll soon discover that I don't belong.





So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay. If I make them all

believe it; maybe I'll believe it too.





So with a painted grin, I play the part again. So everyone will see me

the way that I see them.





Are we happy plastic people under shiny plastic steeples, with walls

around our weakness and smiles to hide our pain?





But if the invitation's open to every heart that has been broken, maybe

then we close the curtain on our stained glass masquerade.





Is there anyone who's been there; are there any hands to raise? Am I

the only one who's traded in the altar for a stage?





The performance is convincing and we know every line by heart, only

when no one is watching can we really fall apart.





But would it set me free if I dared to let you see, the truth behind

the person that you imagine me to be?





Would your arms be open or would you walk away? Would the love of Jesus

be enough to make you stay?"





I love the authenticity this song challenges us to live by. We all feel

inadequate sometimes so why put on a mask? Donning masks is not the way

that God wants us to handle our self image problems. Instead, God tells

us in His Word how to effectively gain a proper view of ourselves, a

view from His perspective.





Why I Don’t Feel Like I Measure Up? There are several reasons

we sometimes don't love ourselves and feel like we're not measuring up.





One big problem is that we often mistakenly base our opinion of

ourselves on the standards of the fallen world around us and not on the

information in the Word of God.





Our culture basically has three inadequate standards for adequacy:

appearance, performance and social status.





People compare themselves to other people all the time to see if they

rank higher in one or more of these three areas. If they think they do

(and the ironic thing is that their judgments are subjective) but if

they think they are better looking or greater performers or higher in

their social status, then they mistakenly conclude they are valuable

and adequate on this basis.





They suffer from the Rudolph-The-Red-Nosed- Reindeer Syndrome. "In the

reindeer pecking order, Rudolph was a nobody. Then came that foggy

Christmas Eve, when Rudolph had an ability that others valued, a nose

that glowed in the dark. After he saved Christmas, the songs says,

'then all the reindeer loved him…'" (Quote from Craig Brian

Larson in his book "Pastoral Grit")





The world around us treats people they view as unattractive or less

productive or lower socially as less valuable. It's only when they

perform or look pretty or achieve status that the world gives them

value. But God doesn't work that way. There isn't any partiality with

Him.





The Bible says, "..God does not respect one person more than another."

Acts 10:34b (NLV)





He doesn't care if you've been bombarded with Botox, or had your body

reshaped to that of a "perfect 10." He's not impressed with your

intellect, your salary, or your standing in the community. Honestly,

He's not. But the world around us is. And if we're not careful we can

fall into the trap of evaluating our adequacy, our value, our self-love

on arbitrary, man-made, and ultimately insufficient rules of self-worth.





I'm not suggesting that we should ignore our appearance, perform poorly

or shun society. And I'm not suggesting that we go to the other extreme

of overplaying our importance. We need to constantly view ourselves as

being loved by God unconditionally. We are not unimportant because we

don't measure up to other people's standards. And we're not more

important because we have more or do more than others.





God's not waiting for you to reach a certain level to love you. He

already loves you! Your adequacy is not based on the subjective and

ever changing formulas of other humans. Your value is based on the

assessment of your Creator and Savior. Each one of us is adequate

because God made us and provided for our eternal friendship with Him if

we will make a personal faith commitment to Jesus. Each one of us has

Designer Genes.





This week we are going to talk about how we need to love our self if

we're going to love others. I realize some people love themselves too

much but that is not our focus this week. The problem we're dealing

with today is how a lack of proper self-esteem can hinder your

relationships.





You're going to have serious difficulty building solid relationships if

you have a crummy self-image or if your self image is based on faulty

reasoning.





The question is not only, "How can I obey the command to love my

neighbor as my self if I don't really love my self?" But also, "How can

I love others in the right way if my self-image is based on a faulty

foundation?"





If we don't get this right we're going to go through life

self-destructing.





Most of us are never going to play professional sports, be chased by

the paparazzi, be corporate executives, win beauty pageants, or achieve

something the world thinks is significant; we all know that. But we

still wrestle with self image and sometimes do unwise things in order

to be accepted by the world.





We shouldn't waste our time trying to build up our self image based on

what the world around us says.





If you get your self image from any human being including your self,

its going to be messed up. The only proper self image comes from

recognizing that your self image is based on the fact that you were

made in the image of God! The Father, Son and Holy Spirit got together

at the creation of man and…





Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us."

Genesis 1:26a (NLT)





Talk about a great platform for my self image! I was made in the image

of God. My image is a reflection of God. I'm not insignificant or

unimportant because I am made in the image of God.





You and I are in the image of God. Were not God but we are important

because we were made in His image.





If you get your self-image from appearance. What are you going to do

when you get around people who are better looking than you? If it's

based on performance how are you going to feel about yourself on those

days when others out perform you? If it's based on social status what

are you going to do when someone has a more impressive family register

or higher standing in the community? (However arbitrarily that is

assessed.)





You're going to feel like your less important. You're going to suffer

feelings of inadequacy. And why? Because you were basing your self

worth on the wrong stuff.





Renewal of Proper Love for Myself...





So how am I supposed to reprogram this faulty software that keeps

telling me I'm less important than others, that I'm inadequate, that

I'm not as special as someone else, that I don't have any reason to

love myself? There's only one way. Daily renewal of my inner thought

process.





The Bible says, "Even though our physical being is gradually decaying,

yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day." 2 Corinthians 4:16b

(GNT)





I do not have to search for significance or self worth. I don't have to

compare myself with others. Every day of my life I need to accept what

God says about me.





My task is to renew myself spiritually every day. I can't afford to let

a day go by that I am not renewing my thinking by dwelling on God's

truth. If I trust my own thinking and emotions, which are both impaired

because of my fallen sinful human nature, then I will stray into

self-loathing instead of self-loving.





With that thought in mind let's look at some Energizing Biblical

Approaches to Self-Worth:





If I'm going to love myself in the right way so that I can love others

in the right way there are several habits I need to establish.





The list I'm giving you today is not exhaustive but the habits are

practical. If you do these things you'll have a greater grip on a

balanced view of your self.





1. THINK LIKE JESUS.





This is foundational. This is crucial.





It's possible to love myself for the wrong reasons. It's possible to

make a subjective comparison of myself with someone else and pridefully

conclude that I'm adequate because I think I'm "better" than the person

I'm comparing myself to.





Concluding that you are of more value than anyone else is not the way

God's Word tells us to think.





"Nothing should be done because of pride or thinking about yourself.

Think of other people as more important than yourself." Philippians 2:3

(NLV)





If you'll read the rest of Philippians chapter two you'll remember

that's how Jesus thought.





"Think as Christ Jesus thought. Jesus has always been as God is. But He

did not hold to His rights as God. He put aside everything that

belonged to Him and made Himself the same as a servant who is owned by

someone. He became human by being born as a man. After He became a man,

He gave up His important place and obeyed by dying on a cross."

Philippians 2:5-8 (NLV)





Amazing! The Lord of Lords and King of Kings gave up His rights as God.

And it began in His thinking. He voluntarily began thinking of Himself

as our servant!





Sometimes our adequacy issues are based on pride. We simply worry too

much about how others view us!





And this causes our relationships to suffer. If my self-esteem is poor

because it is based on my pride or on someone else's estimation of me,

then I become more sensitive when others disrespect me.





Insecure people are touchy people. I find in my life that when I'm

insecure I'm harder to live with. But when I'm sure of who I am in

Christ, when my thinking is like that of


Jesus, when I view myself as a servant. I have more harmony with others.





When people aren't grasping for control in a relationship there's more

harmony. Strife is lessened. I'll say more about this in a few weeks. I

don't care if its in your marriage, with your friends, at work, at

church. Did you know the Bible actually gives us guidelines on how to

disagree with one another and still get along? You'll need these for

solid relationships in life.





But one of the rules is this. God wants us to find our self-esteem not

by depending on others to give us our own way, but by thinking of

ourselves as Jesus did, as servants to one another.





For one thing, you're not going to get your own way all the time. And

for another thing, when you push and shove and fight and argue to get

your own way all the time (which is selfishness), you're going to paint

yourself into a relationship corner. No one is going to want to be

around you!





Does anyone enjoy being around someone who has to have his or her own

way all the time? I don't think so.





If Jesus can think like a servant as totally awesome as He is, then I

can certainly view myself that way.





2. MAINTAIN INTEGRITY.





If I'm going to feel good about myself another big issue I'm going to

have to deal with is integrity. I've got to maintain a solid level of

integrity.





Integrity is when I am true to the moral code I know that God has set

for me to live by according to Scripture. The Bible teaches me to live

a consistent life, not a perfect


life, but a consistent, authentic life. A life of integrity.





Integrity helps others trust me in my relationships with them. But I

also need to maintain integrity if I'm going to feel good about myself.

The Word of God says…





"The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths

will be found out." Proverbs 10:9 (NIV)





In some ways your security is tied to your integrity. It's not just

that others will sometimes find you out if you don't live by the moral

code you know is right, you and God already know about your secret

sins. Your security is threatened because you have already been found

out. I'm not going to feel good about myself if I keep violating my

moral code.


Your conscience is defiled and won't be secured until you confess your

inconsistency and become consistent once again.





"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are

destroyed by their duplicity." Proverbs 11:3 (NIV)





You might object, "But isn't this gauging my self worth by my

performance? Doesn't this mean that I have to perform consistently in

order to feel good about myself?" The difference is the benchmark you

use. When you live with integrity you are comparing yourself to a

consistent lifestyle instead of comparing yourself to the arbitrary and

subjective standards of other humans.





I repeat, the Bible does not teach that you can be perfect. Having

integrity is not being perfect, it's being conscientious. It's being

consistent and authentic. It's being honest with yourself about your

sin.





"If you don't confess your sins, you will be a failure. But God will be

merciful if you confess your sins and give them up." Proverbs 28:13

(CEV)





3. SURRENDER SELF-SUFFICIENCY.





Someone is saying to his or her self right now, "But I've tried to

change my lifestyle in a certain area in order to be consistent to

God's moral standard but it isn't working."





God says… "You will not succeed by your own strength or

power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord All-Powerful." Zechariah 4:6

(NCV)





Ironically, our self-sufficiency often stands in the way of our moral

victory! It stand in the way of maintaining our integrity!





God is the only All-sufficient One! When I think I am strong enough in

my self to win the battle against sin I am only fooling myself. I must

adapt a mindset controlled by the Holy Spirit.





"The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit

is life and peace" Romans 8:6





There's not a better passage of Scripture than Galatians chapter five

to identify this habit.





16 I say this to you: Let the Holy Spirit lead you in each step. (We

think we need God to do some things and other things we can do without

God. Wrong. We need God in each step.)


Then you will not please your sinful old selves. 17 The things our old

selves want to do are against what the Holy Spirit wants. The Holy

Spirit does not agree with what our sinful old selves want. These two

are against each other. So you cannot do what you want to do.





18 If you let the Holy Spirit lead you, the Law no longer has power

over you. 19 The things your sinful old self wants to do are: sex sins,

sinful desires, wild living, 20 worshiping false gods, witchcraft,

hating, fighting, being jealous, being angry, arguing, dividing into

little groups and thinking the other groups are wrong, false teaching,

21 wanting something someone else has, killing other people, using

strong drink, wild parties, and all things like these.





I told you before and I am telling you again that those who do these

things will have no place in the holy nation of God. 22 But the fruit

that comes from having the Holy Spirit in our lives is: love, joy,

peace, not giving up, being kind, being good, having faith, 23 being

gentle, and being the boss over our own desires. The Law is not against

these things.





24 Those of us who belong to Christ have nailed our sinful old selves

on His cross. Our sinful desires are now dead.





25 If the Holy Spirit is living in us, let us be led by Him in all

things. 26 Let us not become proud in ways in which we should not. We

must not make hard feelings among ourselves as Christians or make

anyone jealous. Galatians 5:16-25 (NLV)
]]> Sun, 14 Mar 2010 02:17:30 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3556/convenience-or-commitment https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3556 I Kings 11:25-40 - 12:25-33, 2 Timothy 2:1-30



We live in a world intent on making things convenient for us. There are a host of things that have made living more convenient and human bodies more lazy. We no longer desire to rise and cross the room to change the TV channel. For heavens sake, where is the remote control.

Advertisers constantly tell us that this new product, be it a car, a vacuum cleaner, or a bottle of bleach is more convenient for us. Today if its not convenient, we leave it alone until we find something that is.

Our expectation of convenience is forever creeping into our spiritual lives as well. The only problem is that when Jesus said, "if anyone would follow me he or she must pick up his or her cross daily and follow me," Jesus forgot to add the phrase, that is when you find it convenient to do so.

When there is a job to be done at the church or at home, does your willingness to volunteer for the job depend on whether it is Christian to do so, or whether it is convenient for you to do so. I have found in my walk with the Lord, that the Christian thing to do, is not usually the convenient thing to do. I've even discovered that God expects me to do things at some very inconvenient times.

This week let's look at how the desire for convenience destroyed the spiritual life of a nation. Our story begins at the end of King Solomon's life. Many people know of King Solomon's wisdom, however he was a man who did not listen to his own advice. Solomon fell in love with sex and turned his back on God in his old age. As he forgot God, he became a more ruthless leader, oppressing his people with heavy taxes and forcing them to do work to support his wild, lavish, lifestyle. God told Solomon that because of his sin, Solomon's son would lose part of the nation of Israel.

When Solomon's son became king, he tried to be Mr. Bad and told the people, "If you think my dad was tough, you ain't seen nothing yet. I'm going to show you what being hard really is." He found out you can't talk to people any kind of way and get away with it. The people revolted and the nation was split into two kingdoms. Two of the twelve tribes followed Solomon's son and became the Kingdom of Judah, the other 10 tribes followed a man by the name of Jeroboam, and became the Kingdom of Isreal. God chose Jeroboam to be leader of the 10 tribes.

He tells Jeroboam in 1 Kings 11:35-38 "I will take the kingdom from Solomon's son's hands and give you ten tribes. 36I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. 37However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. 38If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.

Now Jeroboam could not have asked for a better deal from the hand of God. Unfortunately Jeroboam did not fully trust the Lord.

In 1 Kings 12:25. One of the first thing that Jeroboam does after God makes him king is to try to protect himself from being removed. He fortifies two cities, Shechem and Peniel. This would keep the invaders from attacking his country.

The next thing he does is seek to keep from being removed from within. It's amazing how quickly Jeroboam either forgets or rejects the promises of God. God tells him, I will make you and your children kings forever. God has taken a nobody and makes him king. Yet this nobody does not believe that God is willing to keep His word.

Instead of remembering God, the Scriptures says in, 1 Kings 12:26-27 Jeroboam thought to himself, "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam."

One of the great paradoxes in the Christian walk is, why do so many of us believe that God calls us, only to leave us in our time of need. Why do we believe like Adam and Eve, that God really is trying to keep us from having a good time? Why do we believe that the God who loves us more than anyone does, is going to let us slip through the cracks? Why do we believe we've got to have a secret backup plan just in case God fails us?

Jeroboam enjoys the convenience of being a king, more than he does serving God. There is no way anyone is going to take his position away from Him. He thinks of number one. It's not a convenient time for Him to trust God with this situation. Whatever God gives to you, God can see to it that you keep it. By the same token, whatever we take for ourselves, God can take it away and give it to others.

Jeroboam is afraid that he will lose the allegiance of his people when they go to Jerusalem in the southern kingdom to offer the sacrifices that God required of them three times a year. He forgets that he's not king because the people voted him in. He's king because God raised him up. You don't have what you do because of your cleverness, but because God raised you up. Since Jeroboam did not know what to do, verse 28 tells us that he seeks advice from others. Now when we do not know what to do, it's always a good thing to seek advice.

But seeking advice is only part of the answer. We must seek advice from the right sources. In seeking advice, don't go to someone whose going to tell you what you want to hear, Go to someone who is going to tell you what God has to say about your dilemma.

Jeroboam goes to a group of advisors who know how to help him get what he wants, but they are people who are lousy in righteousness and knowing what it is to follow the Lord. Your friends can tell you how to get an A on your test. "It's easy, just cheat." Your colleagues can tell you how to get ahead on the job, "its easy just lie." Your business associates can show you how to make more money, "its easy just overcharge your customers."

All of these things are convenient, but there is no commitment.

Jeroboam's advisors come with a plan to make serving God more convenient as a way to keep the people loyal to him. Let the people see, that serving the God you offer, is a lot less troublesome than serving the God they use to know.

Now this would be good news for many church goers. The perfect church is where they have a beautiful building, great programs, good preaching, fantastic choir, and they never ever ask me to give anything, do anything, or be anything. All I have to do is come when its convenient. That's the mindset of half the people in church.

In verse 28, it says, after Jeroboam seeks advice, he says to the people "It is too much for you, to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." One he set up in Bethel and the other in Dan." Another translation says it is too much trouble to go to Jerusalem to worship.

Brothers and Sisters, how much trouble is too much trouble to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for you. Jesus tells us, "in me you shall have tribulations." Do we see serving God as an inconvenience in our lives. Oh no, it's Sunday morning, I stayed up to late last night. I can't make it to church today. I'm not about to miss my tv program to go to Bible Study.

Even when some of us get to church, its tragic that its not convenient for us to sing God's praises. Where are you when we're singing to the Lord? If God took away your ability to sing, you'd offer your life's savings to get it back.

Anybody that's looking for an easy way to serve God, is going to find a fast way to end up in hell. Now the Law told the people to come to Jerusalem three times each year. Since the people didn't have cars,planes, and trains, it cost them some thing to be obedient to God. Jeroboam has built these gods at the southern border of the kingdom and at the northern border. No matter where you were in the country, going to one of these churches of his, was closer than going all the way to Jerusalem.

Notice too that he tries to tie his religion of convenience to the historic past. If you recall, when Moses was up on the mountain receiving the 10 commandments, the people got tired of waiting for Moses to come down. They told Aaron "build us a god, we don't know what has happened to Moses." Aaron built them a golden calf and said "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." Now those people who only knew a little bit about the Bible, probably said Amen when Jeroboam made his declaration. They knew somewhere it said something about golden cows bringing them out of Egypt.

The reason so many nominal church goers are now zealous Jehovah Witnesses is that they did not know enough of the Bible to know when someone was telling them a bunch of lies and twisting scriptures every which way but the right way. Only studying God's word when its convenient is a sure fire way to be a prey for a cult.

Jeroboam calls what he is offering the people a convenience. And many of the people buy into it. Man its great we don't have to go all the way to Jerusalem. It sure is nice having a God we can see. Boy I was sick and tired and spending my money to make that trip. Man now I'll have time to really serve God like I want to. I can't wait to see what some of the other good changes are going to be made. God calls what Jeroboam offers them something entirely different. He says in verse 30, "and this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship there.

The Jesus in Scripture has gone through such a transformation in the Church in America, that the Jesus we hear of most often on TV bears little resemblance to the one in Scriptures in the same way that those golden cows bore little resemblance to the God of Israel. The Jesus in Scripture came to change people lives by having them serve Him. The Jesus on tv comes to change people's bank account so that they can better serve only them selves. One calls for commitment, the other calls for convenience. Do you see the difference.

Jeroboam is even smart enough to set up the golden cows in cities that were already considered to be holy places. This only added to the deception of some of the people. I don't care how holy a place once was, when God is gone, its time for you to leave. Many people see through the sham that Jeroboam is offering them, especially the priests. Many of the priest and those who are dedicated to the Lord leave the country and go back south to the Kingdom of Juday. They would rather endure the hardships under Solomon's son, than to be part of a convenient false religion.

In our new testament reading we were told that when it comes to our faith, we are to be willing to endure hardship as a soldier of Christ Jesus. When we have the choice of being obedient to God or going along with the crowd what do we do? In a poem, one author wrote that when he came to a fork in the road, he chose the path that was less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. God is looking for men and women, boys and girls who are willing to take the path that is less traveled by in the church.

Jeroboam gets into all this mess, leading all these people astray all because, he refuses to believe that God will keep his promise to him. Once you start on the pathway of sin, there's no stopping until you come to a full confession and repentance. Since there are no priest left, Jeroboam has to reject another of God's commandments.

The Law said only Levites could be priests. This is not convenient for Jeroboam because it means he will have to change and repent before the Levites return. No problem though, Satan has an answer for all our dilemmas. It says in verse 31, Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.

The people found it more convenient to accept these false teachers than to stand up for God. They liked their messages better than they liked the requirements of God. After all every body is entitled to their own opinion. The Scriptures says in 1 Kings 12:32-33 "He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priest at the high places he had made. 33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings."

This festival did nothing for the spiritual life of the people. They were simply going through the religious motions. It was not ordained by God. It says it was a month of Jeroboam's own choosing. Jeroboam has gone from being king and priest to being God. Not only has he messed up his life, he's got 100 of thousands of others marching down the same road of destruction. He started out wanting to protect number one. The people began with wanting something convenient. Together they completely walked away from the God who had done so much for them and their fore fathers and mothers.

You know something, the very security that Jeroboam seeks is lost because of his refusal to trust God. His epitaph in chapter 13 reads, Jeroboam did not change his evils ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people.

Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.

Jeroboam's son reigned two years after becoming king. His son was killed and the man who overthrew him killed Jeroboam's entire family. It says "he did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all." How different from God's offer to build a dynasty that would last forever. From then on, each time Jeroboam's name is mentioned in Scripture it is accompanied by the words and he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to commit.

What kind of testimony do you want to leave behind when you have died. God wants to use you to make a difference in this world and in the church. God has good in mind for you just as He had for Jeroboam. It's not too late for you to get saved. It's a shame that when some die, the minister has to stretch and strain to come up with one thing that person did in service to God in the church. Those of us who serve God only when its convenient often want the biggest tales made up at our funeral.

Jesus does not call us to convenience, He calls us to commitment. He does not call us to scheme and to connive, he calls us to trust Him. He does not call us to have us to inform Him of our schedule, but rather to tell us what our new schedule will be. The Angelic Voices brought us the song, Tell me whose side are you leaning on, leaning on the Lord's side? As your examine your walk with the Lord, are you moved to action by the needs and call of Jesus Christ or are you moved only when it is convenient?]]> Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:48:09 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3555/a-right-attitude-is-a-choice https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3555

Palm Sunday


Zech 9:9-12 Matt 21:1-11





How many of you have ever been to a parade that had different things in


it from bands, to floats, to drill teams and more? In a parade you


never know what is going to come up next, whether you will feel good


about it, or just want it to hurry up and get out of the way.





Life itself is like a parade. You never quite know what is coming next.


Although you cannot determine, what's coming, you can determine what


your attitude toward whatever it is going to be.





Our attitude is a choice. It is something that's very valuable, because


it lets us be in control of how we feel inside. If attitude was not a


choice, we could not follow Christ, because Jesus requires of us some


unexpected attitudes in certain situations. Have you ever had anyone


tell you, you need to change your attitude or get rid of that attitude


as soon as possible? Having a bad attitude or a poor attitude can


really destroy relationships and will hurt us in the long run.





Chuck Swindoll had this to say about attitude. "The longer I live, the


more I realize the impact of Attitude on life. Attitude to me is more


important: than facts, than the past, than education, than money, than


circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people


think or say or do, than appearances, than giftedness or skill. It will


make or break a company…a church…a home.





The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the


Attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We


cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the


one thing we have, and that is our Attitude. I am convinced that life


is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with


you. We are in charge of our attitudes.





Palm Sunday is a time for us to examine our attitudes toward each other


as well as toward God. In a way, Palm Sunday is about a huge parade


coming into town with one major float as its main attraction. The


preparation, the launching, and the moving of the float will allow all


kinds of attitudes to appear. Let's see when and where our own attitude


shows up.





Now Jesus has less than a week to live, and He knows it fully well. He


has finally decided to make it known publicly that He is the long


awaited Messiah, the King that God's people has been waiting for, for


hundreds of years. We read in the Old Testament a prophecy about a King


who would come into the city riding on a colt. Zechariah predicted it


would happen over 500 years before Jesus was born. The time had finally


come and Jesus was ready to take the next step. Can he count on


everybody’s cooperation?





He's starting to get ready for His whole reason for being ,which was to


obey God the Father. He calls his disciples and chooses two of them.


Let's look at Luke 19:30-31 "Go to the village ahead of you, and as you


enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever


ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, 'Why are you


untying it?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it.' Now the word Lord here, is


the name for God which is found in the Old Testament.





So Jesus is saying, tell them "God is about to do something great with


it" Now here's the first opportunity for an attitude. Suppose you had


been there as one of the disciples. Would you have gotten upset and


became envious that Jesus chose those two and not you? Some kind of


miracle is going to take place with this colt. Why do they get to be


the ones to go?





Few things are as damaging to the body of Christ, than people having


the attitude, "I should have gotten that part, or my child should have


had that part." The attitude of envy causes us to say things about


others that should never be said. We question their motives, their


hearts, and their intentions. We forget that we are called the body of


Christ, not the interchangeable parts of Christ. Jesus does not treat


us the same, because He has different roles and ministries for each of


us to fulfill. Some of us would have said, "if he was going to do it


for the two, then he should have done it for the 12. That's the only


way to be fair."





Sometimes we get upset with others over God's call on their lives, when


we do not understand what price they have paid to get to where they


are. Sometimes God cannot use us in the spot light, because we're


unwilling to pay the price to get there. Now here are these two


disciples are going on the word of Jesus. As they are walking along,


one of them probably said, "So how much money did Jesus give you for


the colt?" The other said what, "I thought he gave you the money to pay


for it." What's our attitude when God calls us to do something, but God


does not give us anything to accomplish it with except His Word. All we


know is that God told us to do it.





Now suppose Jesus had told you, "go to (your town) Mall. Near the main


entrance there will be a brand new blue car with the keys inside of it.


Bring it back to me. If the security or police ask you what you're


doing in the car, just tell them the Lord needs it." How many of you


would feel comfortable with Jesus' instructions? Many times doubt will


linger around us when God tells us to do something. You see God can't


choose some of us, because God knows, we will not go through with the


task. We start asking, "Is this going to work? How can I get this done?


Where am I going to get the money?" In times like these we have to


choose the attitude of faith. God told me to do this for a reason.


Because God sent me, God will keep His word.





Sure enough, the two disciples found the colt exactly as Jesus had


said, in the place where he told them it would be. Everything is going


fine. They go over to start untying the colt. All of a sudden there is


this booming voice saying, "Hey that's our animal. What are you doing


untying the colt?" All of a sudden you're being surrounded by some guys


looking pretty angry. Now if it had been some of us, we would have


gotten a self righteous attitude. "Don’t be accusing me of


being a thief. I just made a mistake. I didn't know this was your


animal." You see we can become so interested in how we look in a


situation, that we forget what it was Jesus told us to do.





Jesus did not say defend yourself. He said, tell them the "Lord needs


it." When they said, "The Lord needs it,", the owner's attitudes


immediately changed from anger and suspicion to cooperation. Now God


had previously spoken to their hearts to bring out their prized


possession, a beautiful colt upon which no-one had ever ridden. But God


did not tell them how He was coming to get it. They may have been


waiting for an angel from heaven to come and pick it up. They certainly


were not expecting two ordinary looking men, who they mistook as


thieves. We need the right attitude even with strangers, because we


never know when Jesus is right in our midst.





When the owners heard, the words, "The Lord needs it," they were eager


to let it go. According to Matthew's gospel not only did the owners


send the colt, they sent along the donkey's mother as well, so the


disciples took both animals back to Jesus. God must have spoken to


their hearts some time ago, "don't ever ride on that colt, I have need


of it."





Some times God tells us to hold on to something that we might want to


use for ourselves, because He has a higher purpose for it. This


particular colt symbolized sacredness or holiness in that it had never


been ridden before. Animals and things used for sacred purposes in the


Old Testament had to be animals and things that had never been used


before.





Now this colt was simply a young donkey. We do not highly prize the


riding of a donkey, as a matter of fact, we would much rather see


someone riding on a horse. But just like Jesus has a reason for why he


chooses us, He had a reason for why he chose this new donkey. The


donkey was used by Kings when they entered the city in peace. The horse


or stallion was used by a King when he entered the city as a conqueror.


The donkey was also an animal of service used to carry the burdens and


loads of people. So Jesus is preparing to come into the city fulfilling


the prophecy in Scripture and presenting Himself as the King of peace,


ready to carry the burdens of others.





At the heart of Palm Sunday is Jesus' desire to bring peace into our


lives and to be willing to carry whatever burdens in life that are


weighing us down. But the only way Jesus can complete His desire, is


for us to allow Him to march in and take over without having to fight


us all along the way. Have you ever told God, "you can march over


there, but don't come this way because I'm not yet ready to surrender."


Where ever Jesus is not fully welcome in our lives, is where the real


battle is taking place for our attitudes.





We're doing all kinds of things hoping to find some peace, but God is


saying, until you get your attitude together right here, you shall not


have peace as you seek for it.





When the two disciples returned with the colt and the donkey, they


placed their coats and garments upon the young colt to serve as a


saddle for Jesus. The parade is about to start.


So far it consists of a large number of people who have recently seen


the miracles Jesus had done such as raising Lazarus from the dead and


the healing of Blind Bartimaeus. They were from Galilee and other parts


of the country on their way to Jerusalem for the feast. There were the


disciples themselves, along with Jesus, a donkey and her colt.





As the parade began, different attitudes started to manifest


themselves. The first attitude was those who wanted to immediately


offer Jesus the best that they had. They took off their coats and


clothing and begin to lay it down the pathway as to form a royal carpet


for the animals to walk on. They were not concerned that their clothes


might not be reusable or that they would not be able to get them back.


Their focus was on going all out to honor Jesus Christ. Is


this your attitude when it comes to serving God? Lord you can count on


me to give whatever I have without thinking about it. This was the


group that gave Above and Beyond what was expected. These were the real


NUTS in the crowd who could say, "we never underestimate the spirit."





Then there was another group with another attitude at the parade that


day. It's the attitude of giving something good, even if its not the


best they could give. They kept their coats and clothing, but they were


willing to go and cut down the palm branches and lay them down as a


means of honoring and respecting Jesus. They are in the parade and they


look pretty good.





This is where many people are in the church today. They're doing a


pretty good job, and investing themselves in the work of the Lord


Jesus, but they haven't decided that all that I am truly belongs to


God. They believe it as a head knowledge, but its not a reality in


their hearts. They are still not convinced that doing things God's way


is the best way to handle their lives.





Then there were those who were there, but they never actually became a


part of the parade, they just sort of stood alongside the road and


cheered a little bit. They were willing to take notice of Jesus and to


even give him a handclap, but they were too concerned with other things


to actually get involved. As soon as Jesus passed them by, they went on


about their business as people do once the parade is gone.





These are the people who claim to know Jesus, but are not committed in


any church, nor do they seek to live the lives God has called them to


live. Their attitude is, "well the Lord knows my heart." The Lord does


know our hearts, and what God has to say about our hearts should cause


us to run and give our lives to Jesus Christ. Apart from Christ, our


hearts are in need of a major overhaul.





There were thousands and thousands of people there on Palm Sunday as


Jesus marched into the city. You see Jerusalem has hills all around it,


and if you were on the right hills, you could easily see Jesus riding


in on the donkey. You got to decide how close you wanted to get to


Jesus then, just like you get to decide today how close you want to get


to Jesus. Palm Sunday was the only time in Jesus' life that he allowed


the people to declare Him as King and to openly receive their praise


and worship as a crowd.





The people shouted out, "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of


the Lord." They were saying, "you're the one whom God has sent."


Matthew tells us, the people were also shouting out Hosanna to the Son


of David. Hosanna literally means to "save us now." The people are


shouting in our terms, "You're the one God has sent, save us now.


You're the one God has sent, save us now."





Just as in the nation of Israel today in which Israel sends occupying


forces into Palestinian territories, the Romans were occupying the


nation of Israel then. The people were hoping that Jesus was coming to


overthrow the power of Rome. They are all excited about what's going to


happen next. They are going wild in their praises and expectations of


what Jesus is going to do. But remember Jesus did not come into the


city riding a stallion, he came riding a donkey. He was not coming to


destroy the Romans, but rather to deal with the issue of sin in our


lives. But there was still another attitude at the parade, when it was


obvious Jesus was at the focus of it all. There were religious leaders


who had a lot to lose if the Romans thought Jesus was attempting to


become a king. The religious leaders had already wanted to get rid of


Jesus. Palm Sunday was just too much for them. They told Jesus, "Jesus


to rebuke this crowd."





The educated religious leaders knew that the words the people were


shouting were only suppose to apply to the Son of God. What they wanted


Jesus to do was to tell the people, "you should not be worshipping me


like this. I am not the Messiah, the one the Scriptures have spoken of


for 100's of years." But Jesus could not deny who he was despite their


attitude of jealousy, hostility, and hatred toward Him.





This attitude voices itself more and more in our society where people


are actually hostile toward Jesus Christ. They get angry when we say


that Jesus Christ is the One true way to God. Some of us who call


ourselves followers of Jesus, have become so intimidated by our


culture, that we will not back the claims of Christ, and are saying,


well other religions could lead to God as well.





Jesus has left than a week to live, and before He dies He says, "I am


the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except


through me." The only thing I can break that down to and be faithful to


what Jesus said is to tell others, "Jesus is the way, the truth and the


life and no once comes to the Father except through Him." Now you can


call me narrow minded if you want to, but your problem is not with me,


your problem is with Jesus.





Even if the religious leader could have gotten the people to shut up


and stop praising Jesus that day, it would not have changed who Jesus


was. He still would have been the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.


Jesus took it even a step further. He said "listen, even if I told the


people to be quiet for a moment, the very stones on the ground would


cry out, 'He is the Son Of God.'" Even the animals know who Jesus is.


Think about it for a moment, what happens when you get on a horse


that's never been ridden on before. Well if you're not prepared for the


experience you're going to hit the ground when the horse bucks you off.





Yet here is this donkey that has never been ridden on before,


immediately becomes submissive when Jesus gets on its back. That was


the donkey's way of offering praise to Jesus. He had the right kind of


attitude.





What attitude is Christ trying to expose to you today? Have you allowed


jealousy or envy to enter in your heart toward something God is doing


in and through somebody else, when you think you could do just as good


a job? Is your attitude one where you have completely sold out to Jesus


Christ, or do you see areas in which you do not want the donkey to


carry Jesus to just yet? You've got a great attitude toward your


friends, but the way you treat your family stinks, especially your


spouse. Is your attitude one of just doing your own thing, but sure


that God knows your heart so there's no need to worry? Or are you


openly hostile toward God and His word. You don't believe it and you


never will?





At the moment, it really does not matter because on Palm Sunday, when


Jesus went to Jerusalem He was going to the cross to be crucified and


He had you on His mind. He loved you, and He gave His life for you that


you might have peace and forgiveness for the wrong you have done. His


attitude toward you will always be one of love and acceptance until the


day you die. After that, you're on your own because you will have


sealed your own fate. Why not today, try to love Him, in the way that


He Loved you. It's a choice on your part.


]]> Sun, 28 Mar 2010 11:19:09 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3554/handbook-2010-rules-to-live-by https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3554

1. Drink plenty of water.


2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.


3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..


4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy


5. Make time to pray.


6. Play more games


7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .


8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day


9. Sleep for 7 hours.


10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.





Personality:


11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.


12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.


13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.


14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.


15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.


16. Dream more while you are awake


17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..


18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.


19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.


20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.


21.. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.


22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.


23. Smile and laugh more.


24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...





Society:


25. Call your family often.


26. Each day give something good to others.


27. Forgive everyone for everything..


28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.


29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.


30. What other people think of you is none of your business.


31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.








Life:


32. Do the right thing!


33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.


34. GOD heals everything.


35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..


36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.


37. The best is yet to come..


38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.


39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.]]> Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:39:58 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3551/faith-in-easter https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3551







Corinthians 15:12-22








This week we're going to cover one of the most pivotal events in all of


human history – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the


dead. But we're going to cover it from a unique perspective. You're


going to see not only what the resurrection of Jesus means to you for


eternity but also how it helps you every day.





We're going to see why Easter has meaning and how that meaning impacts


your every-day life. We're going to begin this week why Easter having


meaning because of faith. Let's correct a big misconception about faith


before we get started on our Journey.





Faith is not a blind stab in the dark. Faith is not just believing


something because it sounds good. Yes, it is believing in some things


we cannot see, but we believe in things we cannot see because of things


we have seen. Christians don't follow Christ just because they hope


they might get lucky in so doing.





If you listen closely to explanations of faith on TV shows, in movies


and in a lot of literature you would get the wrong idea about what


faith is. That kind of idea about faith is dead wrong.





"Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation."


(Elton Trueblood)





Faith in Christ is based on solid historical evidence: historical,


because the truths of Christ's life, death and resurrection can be


authenticated by the documented record; and because in the laboratory


of the lives of billions of people, faith in Christ has proven true as


well.





We're talking about faith that has a rock-solid foundation. That


foundation is Jesus and His life, death and resurrection. But the


message this week is not going to be about proving the resurrection of


Christ. That's a great study though.





This week we're going on a journey to see why and how the message of


Easter has an impact on your faith and why and how your faith impacts


your life.





Our Scripture is from Paul's first letter to the Christ followers at


Corinth in ancient Greece.





1 Corinthians 15:12 (NLV) We preached to you that Christ has been


raised from the dead. But some of you say that people are not raised


from the dead. Why do you say this? 13 If the dead are not raised, then


Christ was not raised from the dead. 14 If Christ was not raised from


the dead, then what we preach to you is worth nothing. Your faith in


Christ is worth nothing. 15 That makes us all liars because we said


that God raised Christ from the dead. But God did not raise Christ from


the dead if the dead do not come to life again. 16 If the dead are not


raised, then not even Christ was raised from the dead. 17 If Christ was


not raised from the dead, your faith is worth nothing and you are still


living in your sins. 18 Then the Christians who have already died are


lost in sin. 19 If we have hope in Christ in this life only, we are


more sad than anyone else.





20 But it is true! Christ has been raised from the dead! He was the


first One to be raised from the dead and all those who are in graves


will follow. 21 Death came because of a man, Adam. Being raised from


the dead also came because of a Man, Christ.



22 All men will die as Adam died. But all those who belong to Christ


will be raised to new life.





Let's stop right here and talk about the specific reasons the


resurrection of Christ, the true meaning of Easter, impacts your life


in positive ways.





1. Faith in Easter means you may live confidently. 1 Cor. 15:12-20





This is a very important and a very positive principle. Being able to


live with confidence is of great value to every one of us!





Let me show you how these verses give us confidence. Paul said in


verses 14, "If Christ was not raised from the dead, then what we preach


to you is worth nothing. Your faith in Christ is worth nothing." That's


how important this issue of the resurrection of Jesus is. Your very


faith hinges on whether or not Jesus rose from the dead. And in verse


17, "If Christ was not raised from the dead, your faith is worth


nothing and you are still living in your sins." You


are still living in your sins," means you are still walking around with


the sentence of death, which is the penalty for sin.





If Jesus didn't raise from the dead then faith in Him is useless. If


Jesus didn't raise from the dead then your hope is false and any and


all of the ways you've patterned your life around His teaching is


worthless.





But the Bible confirms in verse 20 that "it is true! Christ has been


raised from the dead!" Now here's the point. Since the resurrection of


Jesus is true, then those who follow Christ have confidence that His


ways are the right ways to live here and now. Christ followers have


great confidence that the way they are living by following the


teachings of Christ is the right way to live!





Christ followers need not be doubtful or gloomy! If you are a follower


of Christ you don't need to live in the shadows of insecurity and


paranoia. You don't need to withdraw from situations or settings when


you feel inadequate and inferior. We all feel those ways sometimes. If


you follow Christ you can live confidently! If you are a follower of


Christ you have a right to be confident and glad! As the Bill Gaither


song says, "Because He lives all fear is gone!"





Doubts come when we feed on the fears of our human nature and its


weaknesses. Confidence comes from following Christ. Because Jesus is


alive, He conquered death, hell and the grave so you can face life's


challenges. If Jesus weren't alive today you could throw your Bible on


the trash heap. Just toss it. But He is alive and His Word is better


than solid gold!





When you feel inadequate or inferior, when you just don't know what to


do in your relationships, in raising kids, on your job, wherever, where


can you find the confidence you need to thrive? Follow the teachings of


a LIVING SAVIOR and trust Him for the outcome!





If you hit a bump in life you don't have to worry. If you're following


Christ's directions and doing what He told you to do in His word you


can leave it all in His hands.





Because Christ conquered death as the fulfillment of numerous


prophecies and with verifiable documented testimony. The Christ


follower has unshakable confidence in the message of Christ! You may


walk down the path that follows the instructions of Christ with the


absolute assurance that you are going in the right way in life!





To know that the teachings of Christ are true and that when you follow


them you don't have to wonder whether or not you are doing the right


thing is invaluable! People pay big bucks to have others tell them what


life is all about. They spend lifetimes trying to find meaning and


purpose and all along Jesus provides these things.





You don't need to go on a pilgrimage to a holy site. You don't need to


seek a maharaja sitting on top of some snow-covered mountain. You can


have certainty that how you are living in your relationships and on the


job and at school and in your community and in the church are right as


long as you are living the way the Word of God instructs you to live.





Christ followers should not be more sad than anyone else, as Paul said


we would be in verse 19 if Jesus hadn't risen from the dead. We should


be more glad than anyone else because Jesus has conquered death, hell


and the grave! Living confidently is one of the birthrights of the


believer! If you are following Jesus you are on the right road!





Have you ever been traveling somewhere far away from home in unfamiliar


surroundings and for miles and miles you just don't see the landmarks


you think you're supposed to see and you begin to doubt if you're on


the right road? You wonder if you're going in the right direction?


That's a crummy feeling. The feeling that you're lost.





If you are following Jesus you don't have to experience that lost


feeling! You don't have to doubt. Landmarks may be few and far between


sometimes because life occasionally stinks, (I'll admit that) but


because Jesus is The Way (John 14:6) you don't have to worry or be


afraid!





Somebody at Corinth was trying to get the believers off of the right


road and Paul was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to


tell them to stay on course. They were losing their confidence about


the very thing which they should have been confident!





1. Faith in Easter means you may live confidently!





2. Faith in Easter means you should live gratefully. 1 Cor. 15:21





Look again at verse 21 with me.





21 Death came because of a man, Adam. Being raised from the dead also


came because of a Man, Christ.





Trace your roots back to Eden. Your forefather Adam decided to disobey


God. He decided to sin, even after having been forewarned of the


consequence of sin, which is death. And you and I inherited his sinful


nature. You inherited the inclination or the predisposition to sin.





I think Bill Cosby's comedic routine back in the 80's personifies our


tendency to say and do things that get us into trouble about as good as


anything. He said he knew that when his mother was angry she would


always start with the words, "I am just sick and tired."





Cosby says, "Worst beating I ever got in my life, my mother said, 'Well


I am just sick,' and I said 'And tired.' I don't remember anything


after that."





Have you ever wondered why sinning comes naturally to you? You think


and say and do wrong and hurtful things without even having to try. It


is thinking and saying and doing the right things that often takes


effort, at least until you have matured and begin to respond correctly


out of the habits you have formed in your life. And even then it takes


the Supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to assist you in living right.





This problem stems from your membership in the human race. You are a


son or daughter of Adam. And the Bible emphatically states that death


came because of a man, Adam. But the Scriptures immediately follow that


bad news with good news! Being raised from the dead also came because


of a Man, Christ.





You owe your ability to conquer death and to conquer the lifestyle that


leads to death, to Christ. Once you make a faith commitment to Him you


are given the power to overcome the penalty of sin, which is death. You


are given the power to live a resurrected lifestyle!





But before that power becomes yours, you must admit that it was your


sins that put Jesus on the cross. "Before we can begin to see the cross


as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us."


(John Stott)





My sins nailed Jesus to the cross. Your sins put Him there. The whole


world is guilty, every one of us. Therefore each of us deserves the


penalty for sin and death. But Jesus loved you so much He took sin's


penalty for you. Greatest love ever known is the love of God displayed


on the cross on Skull Hill.





That kind of love should be returned with gratefulness. One stormy


night in Lake Michigan, a side-wheeler steamboat was rammed by another


boat. The steamboat sank just a mile offshore from the village of


Winnetka, Illinois. Out of 393 passengers on board, 279 drowned.





A man named Edward Spencer after seeing the situation unfold plunged


into the lake and swam to the drowning people. He towed one person to


shore and went for another. In all, he brought seventeen people to


safety. However, the strain on this young man caused him to collapse.


The nerves in his legs were so completely destroyed that he could never


walk again. He was an invalid wheel chair victim for his entire life.





On his eightieth birthday, someone asked him to relate his most vivid


memory of that dreadful day. He replied, "Not one of the seventeen


returned to thank me."





Don't live without thanking Jesus for the sacrifice He made for you!





1. Faith in Easter means you may live confidently.





2. Faith in Easter means you should live gratefully.





3. Faith in Easter means you may live hopefully.





1 Corinthians 15: 22 All men will die as Adam died. But all those who


belong to Christ will be raised to new life.





When you read in First Corinthians which was written in the first


century you realize that doubts about life after death aren't new. For


centuries man has wrestled with the concept of immortality. Is this


life all there is? Or is there something after? The Bible clearly


teaches that this life is only temporary but it will be followed by


eternal residence either with God or apart from God.





Your preparation needs to be focused on spending that residence with


God. And you also need to do everything that you can to get others to


spend their eternal existence with God.





Why should you believe this? Why should you believe what the Bible says


about life after death? Isn't this "pie in the sky" stuff just the


fanciful by-product of man's wishful thinking? Don't you have to be a


weak person to believe in an afterlife because you're naïve


and you fear death?





Before we answer that question let me ask another? Aren't people who


don't believe in an afterlife engaged in wishful thinking? It could be


that they are hoping that there is no accountability when they die and


that there is no authority over their lives before that time.





Psalms 10:4 (CSB) In all his scheming, the wicked arrogantly thinks:


"There is no accountability, [since] God does not exist."





Non-belief in God is a convenient way for the agnostic and the atheist


to stick his or her head in the sand. God won't go away just because


people don't believe in Him. Suppose tonight a burglar breaks into your


house. As he steps into your bedroom, thinking you are asleep, you take


your gun out of the drawer in the nightstand and say, "Stop right where


you are or I'll shoot."





Now suppose the criminal replies, "But I don't believe in the existence


of guns." Will his disbelief do him any good? I don't think so. Are the


teachings of heaven and hell just intricate dogmas concocted by church


leaders to keep people in line? Isn't the Bible just one of many holy


books? What makes Christianity distinctive? WHY SHOULD YOU BELIEVE?





For one thing, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is a


distinctive of Christianity! And that's why faith gives Easter meaning.





"Death is man's greatest enemy, and it has conquered all men but


Christ. No matter how brilliant or rich or strong he may be, no man is


wise enough to outwit death or wealthy enough to purchase freedom from


death or strong enough to vanquish death. The grave always wins the


victory, and man sooner or later returns to the dust.





"In fact, the…triumph of death applies not only to man, but


to all things. Animals die and plants die, and even whole species


become extinct, and then fade away. Cities and nations, like people,


are born and grow for a season, and then fade away. Homes and


automobiles and clothes wear out and must eventually go back to dust,


just as do their owners. Even the universe itself is running


down…" (Many Infallible Proofs, Henry Morris)





Death is such a universal absolute that the Bible says in Romans 8:21


(NLT) All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children


in glorious freedom from death and decay.





Freedom from death – that is what Jesus offers!





If you are a follower of Christ you are going to live forever! If


you're in what is commonly referred as mid-life, don't sweat it. The


other day it occurred to me, since I'm going to live forever, there's


no such thing as midlife! If you're in your senior years remember that


you'll be young again in heaven! Forever!





In his book, "God Said It, Don't Sweat It," The Christian Psychologist


Neil Clark Warren tells about a Christian man who came to his office


contemplating suicide because his wife was leaving him. Warren shared


with this client the promise of eternal life in Christ and how it


trumps even the serious and weighty problems of life.





And then he wrote something in his book that fascinated me. He said


that through the years of counseling thousands of clients not one of


them had committed suicide. He kept pointing his clients toward the


hope of heaven and where's there's hope there's always a reason to go


on!





Faith in Easter means you can live hopefully.





1. Faith in Easter means you may live confidently.





2. Faith in Easter means you should live gratefully.





3. Faith in Easter means you may live hopefully.





The most important question to ask your self then is, "Do I have faith


in Easter?"





Have I placed my trust in what Jesus did by dying for me on the cross?





I want to give you an opportunity to do that today. "Jesus I


thank you for dying on the cross in my place. I realize that you took


my place. I'm a sinner but I want to become your follower. Forgive all


my sins and give me eternal life. Give me the confidence and the hope


that I need to face not only eternity, but every day. In Jesus' name.


Amen"
]]> Sun, 04 Apr 2010 14:30:39 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3548/suffering-of-insecurity https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3548

Zephaniah 3:17








One of the greatest challenges each of us faces in life is becoming

comfortable in our own skin. In fact, insecurity is a big problem

throughout our culture. This may stem from childhood experiences,

mobility, and even the harsh and critical spirit in our culture

– just watch how people talk to one another on some of the

news shows.





Facing insecurity is so important because a person who is secure with

himself or herself is much more likely to achieve more loving and

meaningful relationships. Feelings of insecurity make it more difficult

for us to show love and to be loved. So we've got to come to terms with

our insecurity if we want to enjoy the love God created us to enjoy.

And this is a problem that men face just as much as women. We men just

try to cover it up more.





A big problem right off the bat is that some of you would strongly deny

that you ever feel insecure. And I understand how you feel. Back in

high school I had a teacher that assigned us to read

Psycho-Cybernetics. The book was published in 1960 but it really became

popular in the 70's. I remember reading the book and it said

that 95% of Americans have some sense of insecurity. I felt like that

was ridiculous. Over thirty years later, after knowing more about

myself and others, I don't think it's so far-fetched.





You say, "How do I know whether or not I have any insecurity?" I'm

going to give you a list of characteristics. If you exhibit these

qualities then you have some insecurity.





Be honest with yourself.(And it's so ironic. One of the greatest signs

of insecurity is refusing to admit it.) We don't have to be afraid or

ashamed to admit it.





Ever since Adam & Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden mankind has

battled insecurity. God comes looking for Adam after he and Eve had

sinned and they're hiding from God. Hiding from God for the first time

ever! Why! Insecurity. Nothing had changed in the environment around

Adam and Eve. Not yet. It would later. God would banish them from

Paradise. But first He would have to confront them about their

misbehavior. No their environment hadn't changed yet, but a drastic

change had taken place inside their psyches! They hid from God because

for the very first time ever they felt insecure. Since all of us have

sinned we all share in battling the problem of insecurity just from

being human.





We don't have to hide or deny our insecurity because God has a BIG, BIG

answer for our insecurity, which this message is primarily about. But

first let me share some signs with you, some signs of insecurity

because we sometimes fail to see ourselves until we've seen our

reflection in the Word of God. Some of these signs are the masks we

wear in an attempt to hide our insecurity.





DEFENSIVENESS: This was evident in the life of one of most insecure

people in the Bible, King Saul. (There are a lot of examples of

insecurity in Bible characters: Noah, Abraham, Gideon, the 10 Spies,

Elijah, etc.) But King Saul is a textbook case on insecurity. He was

defensive whenever approached by the prophet Samuel. Samuel would come

to Saul with the word from God and Saul would put up his guard. (1

Samuel 13)





One time King Saul wouldn't wait for Samuel to arrive at a battle scene

against the Philistines, so Saul offered sacrifices as if he were a

priest. 11 Samuel asked, "What have you done?" Saul answered, "I saw

the soldiers leaving me, (his soldiers were afraid and insecure and so

they were going AWOL. Note: we can't afford to allow ourselves to be

infected with the insecurity of others!) and you were not here when you

said you would be. 12 Then I thought, 'The Philistines will come

against me at Gilgal, and I haven't asked for the Lord's approval.' So

I forced myself to offer the whole burnt offering." 1 Sam. 13:11-12

(NCV)





Furthermore, he did not do all of what God told him to do in the battle

with the Amelekites. When Samuel challenged his disobedience he was

defensive. He argued that he had disobeyed God because of the people.

Insecurity. He was afraid of losing the approval of the people.





And Saul was a big guy, stood head and shoulders above everyone else.

(1 Sam. 9:2) Security isn't about physical size or strength! When he

found out he had been chosen as Israel's first king (because the

Israelites were insecure and wanted to be like other nations) he hid

himself among the baggage. (1 Samuel 10:22)





His insecurities were exemplified in his paranoia of David and his

consultation with the witch of Endor. He consulted of a medium in

cahoots with Satan instead of consulting with God, but it was his

defensiveness against God that lost him his kingdom. Instead of being

insecure he could have realized that everything God asked him to do was

for his own good and for the good of those around him. He could have

realized that God was with him. I could preach an entire message on

Saul's insecurities and what we can learn from them. But for now, ask

yourself, "Do I have a tendency toward defensiveness when others share

Word of God with me, or, when they challenge my opinion at all? Can I

stand to have my opinion challenged, or am I too insecure for that?





SELFISHNESS: (Lk. 16:14 – "the Pharisees, who loved

money"…then Jesus tells the story of the rich man and

Lazarus)





"Woe to you who are complacent on Mt. Zion, and to you who feel secure.

4 You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You

dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. 5 You strum away on your

harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. 6 You drink wine

by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over

the ruin of Joseph." Amos 6:1, 4-6 (NIV)





Do you attempt to find security by surrounding yourself with

possessions or accolades or attention from your "things?" Are you

reluctant to share with others? Are you reluctant to even give praise

and compliment others? Do you cringe when someone else praises them

because you want to be the one getting most if not all of the

recognition? When you don't get your way, are you difficult to live

with? Must you have that feeling of validation when you get your way?

Do you show others your dark side when you don't get your way? Is this

because you "feel secure" and important because of what you have?





ACCOMODATION: The Apostle Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia, which

were falling prey to false teachers because of their insecurity. He

wrote,





"Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the One

I am trying to please. Am I trying to please people? If I still wanted

to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

(NCV)





Paul was not an accommodating preacher/teacher, but the false teachers

at Galatia were manipulating people by their insecurities. That is a

big problem by the way. If you don't successfully manage your

insecurities, you will be easily manipulated and exploited by others!





You say, "How can I recognize this in myself?" Do you attempt to gain

the approval of others by bending over backwards to please them? I'm

not talking about just being nice. Being nice is good. Nothing wrong

with being nice to others because you love them. But do you have a

difficult time saying "no" because you fear someone won't love you if

you don't do what he or she asks?





Bear with me for a couple more signs of insecurity and we'll get to the

really positive news about how to overcome insecurity. But we've got to

be honest about this before God's truth can lift us up!





INDULGENCE: (addictive behavior) Do you battle weight problems, do you

battle lust, do you struggle with secret sins? Of course nothing is

secret from God: Psalm 90:8 (CEV) says,





"…and you know all of our sins, even those we do in secret."





Do you indulge yourself in bad attitudes like jealousy, envy,

bitterness, etc.; do you indulge in sin in secret? Do you coddle

certain sins because you feel justified in them due to insecurity?





Perhaps your parents didn't show you the love and respect you longed

for, so you started seeking it in indulgent and addictive behavior in

an attempt to quiet your inner battle with insecurity.





People who go on shooting rampages, and there's been an epidemic of

them lately across the country, do so because they felt frustrated. But

they also felt insecure and so they indulge themselves in fantasies of

making themselves secure by being in control. Of course most of us

don't have insecurities that make us want to go on shooting sprees

thank God.





But if you can think of any indulgence in your life, be honest with

yourself. Is it because of insecurity? Great healing can take place in

your life especially in a little bit when we get to the healing part of

this message, but right now we must honestly diagnose our problem.





One final sign of insecurity to consider.





JUDGMENTALISM: Jesus said, "Don't pick on people, jump on their

failures, criticize their faults unless, of course, you want the same

treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to

see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer

on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for

you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole

traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a

holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly

sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to

your neighbor. Jesus – Matthew 7:1-5 (Msg)





Do you find yourself being negative and critical of everything and

everyone? Not "constructively" critical but "destructively" critical.

Are you consistently finding fault with others and the way they do

things? Our insecurity causes us to do this because our fallen nature

subconsciously and incorrectly concludes that if we tear others down it

will build us up. And we so badly want to be built up, we want to feel

good about ourselves, we want to feel secure so much that we tear

others down. It's sad.








The good news is that we don't have to resort to any of these bad

behaviors! We can become confident people through a positive,

encouraging resource. We can overcome our insecurity, even though it's

a daily battle, by realizing how much God loves us!





One of my favorite Scriptures on this is this verse from Zephaniah:





"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take

great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice

over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)





God loves you so much that He takes great delight in you! He sings over

you like a mother singing lullabies over her child! I can't think of

any place more secure than a babe in its mother's arms, and that mom

singing a lullaby to her child! God says, "that's how much I love you!

That's what I have to offer you! I have security for you! You don't

have to be insecure. You don't have to resort to destructive forms of

behavior in order to feel loved and to feel good about yourself."





If you have accepted Christ you are God's beloved child! He adores you!

He loves you! He even likes you! He wants to hang out! If you haven't

accepted Christ yet. God longs for you to do so! He wants to sing His

love song to you too! God wants you to experience incredible joy by

overcoming your insecurities by His love!





Before Jesus went back to heaven He said this to His followers: "Until

now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will

receive, so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy." John 16:24

(NCV)





God wants you to experience the "fullest possible joy!" God celebrates

your life! Therefore you should celebrate your life too! Celebrate the

lives of those you love!





Maybe there is someone reading this who doesn't feel loved. You don't

feel special. You don't feel treasured. I want to stand before you as

God's spokesmen and ask you to repent. Repent of not feeling loved.

Embrace your status before God as being loved by God. Embrace your

status as His treasure, the apple of His eye. Embrace the view of

yourself that God has of you!





God's Word isn't just about teaching and telling people what they've

done wrong and what they ought to do and should have done but its about

telling us that God loves us!





We are loved. WE CAN BEAT INSECURITY! We can beat worry. We can get out

of debt. We can develop discipline to spend time in the Word and

prayer. We can loose weight. We can restore relationships. We can reach

people with the Good News about Jesus! We can do all things through

Christ who strengthens us!





Too much of our thinking is just the opposite. It is not positive and

uplifting. It is not hope-filled and faith-filled, and certainly not

love-filled. It's, "poor me, nobody loves me. Nobody wants to hang out

with me. Nobody cares." Who wants to bathe in that kind of dirty water?

God does love you! Those who love God love you! Go to people around you

and say, "God loves you and so do I!"





We can overcome our insecurity because the greatest individual in the

universe, God Himself, loves us! We can be significantly more loving,

noticeably more joyful, more visibly at peace. Jesus really can make a

difference in our lives. It is real. It is significant. It is visible.





Josh Hunt tells the story of a man in the Philippines who was, by his

own admission, a very bad man. He was very insecure and he took his

insecurities out on others. His name was Mr. Gepte. (pronounced as an

"H"). He had two wives and 24 children and was mean as a snake. He used

to cut people with razor blades just for kicks. You didn't want to be

his enemy. But, Mr. Gepte got saved. Josh Hunt's dad, who was a

missionary to the Philippines said, "I can't defend this biblically,

but it seems to me that some people get saved and some people get

really saved." Mr. Gepte got really saved. He visited his son shortly

after he was saved and his son could see the difference. The son said,

"My Poppa has a new man inside." He had never heard of 2 Corinthians

5.17 ("If any man is in Christ he is a new creation.") but he observed

that his daddy had a new man inside. And, it wasn't a flash in the pan.

The prayer of his life was that all of his 24 children would come to

Christ. The missionary and his wife visited Mr. Gepte on his deathbed

and rejoiced with him that God had answered his prayer and all 24 of

his children had come to know the Lord! JESUS REALLY CAN MAKE A

DIFFERENCE!





I know that life is hard. I heard this growing up and I got the idea

that, "Okay there are speed bumps in life." When I say, "life is hard"

I'm not talking about speed bumps. I'm talking about train wrecks.

Sooner or later most of us have them: a divorce, the death of a child,

the untimely loss of a spouse or a parent, major financial setbacks,

some painful and debilitating disease. Sooner or later, it happens to

most of us. Life can be really, really hard.





But, Romans 8.28a (NCV) is still true. "We know that in everything God

works for the good of those who love him." God can make all things work

together for good. That's one of my favorite verse in the Bible. It

speaks volumes to me about how BIG God is, how great He is, how loving

He is!





He can take a quadriplegic like Joni Erickson Tada and give her a

worldwide platform to share His love. She became a quadriplegic after a

diving accident, paralyzed from the neck down. Yet, by the grace of

God, she became a positive and uplifting person, ministering to

millions. He can take Chuck Colson's jail sentence for the Water Gate

cover up and turn it into an international prison ministry. He can take

the pain of your life and bring good from it.





God loves you even though life is sometimes hard. We need to focus on

His love for us instead of the occasional hardships in life.





Hebrews 13:5-6 says, 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and

be satisfied with what you have. God has said, "I will never leave you;

I will never abandon you."(Quoting Deuteronomy 31:6) 6 So we can be

sure when we say, "I will not be afraid, because the Lord is my helper.

People can't do anything to me." (Quoting Psalm 118:6)





We look for security in possessions and in people and God says, "Your

security is in Me!" Possessions are temporary and subject to loss. Just

consider the current status of the stock market.





That's why Jesus said, 19 "Don't store treasures for yourselves here on

earth where moths and rust will destroy them and thieves can break in

and steal them. 20 But store your treasures in heaven where they cannot

be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and

steal them. 21 Your heart will be where your treasure is." Matthew

6:19-21 (NCV)





You say, "How can I be sure that God loves me all the time, even in the

hard times?" I'll give you one BIG way. God just doesn't talk about His

love for you. He proved it by sending His only Son, Jesus! Jesus went

through the hardest time of anybody so that you and I could be saved!





I read a rookie rock climber's account recently. He said he wanted to

climb cliffs but he was afraid to do so until a friend who was a

veteran cliff climber invited him to go along with him. He said he was

half way up the face of the cliff when fear began to take over, it was

then that he heard the voice of his veteran rock-climbing friend above,

telling him not to be afraid, that he had already been where he was

now, and that furthermore, he had taken great pains to secure the ropes

by going before him.





Jesus has gone before you and He has secured the ropes! You don't have

to be afraid with Him leading the way! His voice right now is saying to

you, "Don't be afraid. Don't be insecure. I'm right here with you!"

]]> Sun, 11 Apr 2010 03:08:48 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3547/god-does-care https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3547

Hebrews 6:11-20





We begin a new series this week. We're going to utilize the New


Testament book of Hebrews because it was initially written to a group


of people pondering the care of God.





Times were hard for the Jewish Christ followers in the First Century of


the church. They faced persecution and misunderstanding. Consequently


they thought about leaving their lifestyles of following Christ and


going completely back to Jewish worship.





This letter was written to encourage them by showing them how very much


God cared about them.





As you will know back in December I wrote a series using the first 5


chapters of Hebrew. Lets journey farther within this book and see where


God leads us. We begin this series in Hebrews chapter 6, verses 11-20


in the NIV.





11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as


life lasts, in order to make certain that what you HOPE for will come


true. 12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent.


Instead, you will follow the example of those are going to inherit


God's promises because of their faith and endurance.





13 For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no


one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying: 14


"I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants


beyond number." 15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what


God had promised.





16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than


themselves to hold them to it. And without any question the oath is


binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who


received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change


his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two


things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.


Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence


as we hold to the HOPE that lies before us. 19 This HOPE is a strong


and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain


into God's inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us.


He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.





HOPE! The original readers of the Hebrew letter wrestled to maintain


HOPE in the midst of pain and suffering. We do to. How can I remain a


hopeful person when times are hard?





KEEP ON LOVING OTHERS





Verse 11 - Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as


long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you HOPE for


will come true.





When we're stressed we often take it out on those nearest to us. In


order to be a hopeful person I must learn to fight that natural


inclination. I've got to love others instead of becoming myopic


(nearsided) and only thinking about my own problems.





When facing difficult stuff in life we often ask "Does God care?" when


we ought to be asking ourselves, "Am I loving others?" Here's a story I


would like to share with you from a pastor friend.





Jim Cymbala preaches at a church in the slums of New York City. He


tells of one Easter Sunday when he was so tired at the end of the day's


worship that he just went to the edge of the platform, loosened his tie


and sat down and draped his feet over the edge.





It had been a wonderful worship gathering with many people coming


forward to pray about spiritual needs.The counselors were talking to


these people when Cymbala looked up the middle aisle, and there about


the third row was a man who looked about fifty, street looking, filthy.


Cymbala writes, "He looked up at me rather sheepishly, as if saying,


'Could I talk to you?'





He continues, "So as I sat there, I said to myself, though I am ashamed


of it, 'What a way to end a Sunday. I've had such a good time,


preaching and ministering, and here's a fellow probably wanting some


money for more wine.'





"He walked up. When he got within about five feet of me, I smelled a


horrible smell like I'd never smelled in my life. It was so awful that


when he got close, I would inhale by looking away, and then I'd talk to


him, and then look away to inhale, because I couldn't inhale facing him.





I asked him, "What's your name?" "David." "How long have you been on


the street?" "Six years." "How old are you?" "Thirty-two." He looked


fifty, hair matted; front teeth missing; eyes slightly glazed.





"Where did you sleep last night, David?" "Abandoned truck."





I keep in my back pocket a money clip that also holds some credit


cards. I fumbled to get some money out, thinking, "I won't even get a


volunteer. They are all busy talking with others. Usually we don't give


money to people. We take them to get something to eat. I took the money


out. David pushed his finger in front of me. He said, "I don't want


your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because


I'm not going to make it. I'm going to die on the street."





I completely forgot about David and began to weep for myself. I was


going to give a couple dollars to someone God had sent to me.





See how easy it is? I could make the excuse that I was tired. There is


no excuse. I was not seeing him the way God sees him. I was not feeling


what God feels. But oh, did that change!





David just stood there. He didn't know what was happening. I pleaded


with God, "God forgive me! Forgive me! Please forgive me! I am so sorry


to represent you this way. I'm so sorry. Here I am with my message and


my points, and You send somebody and I am not ready for it. Oh God!"





Something came over me. Suddenly I started to weep deeper, and David


began to weep. He fell against my chest as I was sitting there. He fell


against my white shirt and tie, and I put my arms around him, and there


we wept with each other. The smell of this person became a beautiful


aroma.





Here is what I thought the Lord made real to me: "If you don't love


this smell, I can't use you, because that is why I called you where you


are. This is what you are about. You are about this smell."





Christ changed David's life. He started memorizing portions of


Scirpture that were incredible. We got him a place to live. We hired


him in the church to do maintenance, and we got his teeth fixed. He was


a handsome man when he came out of the hospital. They detoxed him in


six days. He spent Thanksgiving at my house. He also spent Christmas at


my house. When we were exchanging presents, he pulled out a little


thing and he said, "This is for you." It was a little white hanky. It


was the only thing he could afford.





A year later David got up and talked about his conversion to Christ.


The minute he took the mic and began to speak I said, "The man is a


preacher."





This past Easter we ordained David. He is an associate minister of a


church over in New Jersey. And I was so close to saying, "Here, take


this; I'm a busy preacher." We can get so full of ourselves.





I have to say that was an awesome story, Praise the Lord. We can get so


full of ourselves can't we? And what happens when we get full of


ourselves is that our vision becomes so narrow we can't see the grace


of God! It is when we get involved in helping others solve their


problems that our own hope level rises because our vision becomes


broader!





FAITH AND ENDURANCE





Look again at verses 12-15:





12 Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead,


you will follow the example of those are going to inherit God's


promises because of their faith and endurance.





13 For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no


one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:





14 "I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants


beyond number."





15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.





If I want to remain hopeful, even in the face of discouraging


difficulties and circumstances I don't understand, I must decide that


I'm not going to quit, no matter what!





One of the greatest and most important days of your life will be that


day you determine that you're not going to stop loving God or loving


others no matter what!





The Bible here gives the example of Abraham. Can you imagine having our


faith and endurance tested like Abe's was?





First God waits until he and his wife Sarah are far past child-bearing


age to keep His promise of giving them offspring, then he asks Abraham


to offern Isaac up as a sacrifice.





If anyone could have legitimately asked the question, "Does God Care?"


it could have Abraham and Sarah. "God does care."





We sometimes ask ourselves, "If God cared, why would such and such have


happened in my life? If God cared, why didn't God do certain things to


help me when and how I thought I needed assistance?" Remember school?


The teacher is always silent when the test is being given. When God is


silent, it may be that you are being tested. Are you passing the test


with faith and endurance? How can we keep on loving others and express


faith and endurance?





CONFIDENCE IN GOD'S PROMISES





Let's re-visit verses 16-20:





16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than


themselves to hold them to it. And without any question the oath is


binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who


received the promise could be perfectly sure that He would never change


his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two


things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.


Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence


as we hold to the HOPE that lies before us. 19 This HOPE is a strong


and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain


into God's inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us.


He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.





God isn't fickle. He's not moody. When He makes a promise we can


maintain the utmost confidence that He will follow through!





The Greek word translated "oath" is "horkos," which is derived from


another Greek word, "herkos," which means, "a fence or enclosure which


confines a person."





God took an oath, which means, He confines Himself to doing what He


said He would do! He made a promise to Abraham and also swore an oath.





You say, "I wish God would do this for me!"





He has!





19 This HOPE is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads


us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already


gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the


order of Melchisedek. Jesus died on the cross to prove the sincerity of


God's promises!





"The curtain into God's inner sanctuary," was the thing that separated


the two very special rooms in the Jewish temple, The Holy Place and The


Most Holy Place.





Jesus went into The Most Holy Place for us. He entered into the


presence of God the Father to present Himself as the one and only


sacfrifice for our sins! Jesus went behind the curtain for us!





You see? God does Care. He cared enough to give Himself in your place


to prove the sincerity of His promises! God will keep His Word in your


life. Your job is to remain hopeful:





Just remember, keep on loving others and practice faith and endurance.


Have confidence in God's promises.


]]> Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:23:41 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3542/god-does-care-part-2 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3542

Part 2


Hebrews 7:1-28














The problem is not usually the problem. The problem is often our lack


of information or our failure to focus on the information.





We're in the series, "God Does Care" and we're considering the letter


of Hebrews written to Christ followers of the First Century who were


discouraged. They entertained thoughts of giving up and turning back.





In this very encouraging correspondence God lets them know that there


is nothing "better" than following Christ. In the 7th chapter one of


the most mysterious characters in the Bible is used to show how much


God cares for us.





Hebrews 7:1 This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a


priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning


a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him.


2 Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave


it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means "king of justice," and


king of Salem means "king of peace." 3 There is no record of his father


or mother or any of his ancestors no beginning or end to his life. He


remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.





The writer of the letter to the Hebrews goes on to recount how this


applied to his readers. The Levites, who received tithes from the


Jewish people, hadn't been born yet when this interaction between


Melchizedek and Abraham transpired. The point is, Melchizedek typifies


Jesus, who is not a priest like the Levitical priesthood, or even the


high priesthood from the family of Aaron.





Christ's priesthood is a "better" priesthood. There is no end to it. It


is not temporary. The priesthood of Christ is eternal. Why is this


important to a group of discouraged Christ-following Jews?





We pick up the story in verse 23:





23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented


them from remaining in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, his


priesthood last forever. 25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to


save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede


with God on their behalf.





26 He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and


blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has


been given the highest place of honor in heaven. 27 Unlike those other


high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did


this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But


Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice


for the people's sins. 28 The law appointed high priests who were


limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed


his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest


forever. Let's break this down further to see how we can let God care


for us.





REFLECT (Verse 24)





Reflect on the fact that Christ's care is forever!





We've all lost loved ones that cared for us. When you lose a parent or


spouse or friend that cared for you, you're partly sad for them and


partly for yourself. Someone who cared for you is gone. There's a void


there. An emptiness.





That will never be the case with Jesus! Yes, Jesus died. But He rose


again and is alive forever!





The Bible says in Romans 8:





35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no


longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or


hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 37 No,


despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ,


who loved us.





38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's


love. Neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither our


fears for today nor our worries for tomorrow - not even the powers of


hell can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above or


in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able


to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus


our Lord.





Reflect on that the next time you're tempted to doubt God's care.





One warning or caution, you've got to come to God in order to qualify


for this kind of care.





RECEIVE (Verse 25a)





In order to let God care for you, you've got to receive the free gift


of salvation that He offers.





The first part of Verse 25 says, "Therefore he is able, once and


forever, to save those who come to God through him."





If you "come to God through Him (Jesus)" you will have this eternal


care.





The big debate in our nation right now is health care. We don't know


the end result of this debate, but we do know the end result of the


eternal care of those who come to God the Father through Christ the


Son! When you come to Christ you are safe and secure in knowing that


Jesus conquered death and lives forever so that you too may do so!





You have eternal care if you have come to God through Jesus!





RELISH (Verse 25b)





Once you've received God's free gift of salvation through His Son


Jesus, you need to enjoy it! The last part of verse 25 says that Jesus


lives to intercede with God on your behalf.





This means that Jesus is your representative in heaven. He is there


since that is where God's throne is. He is there where his holiness,


his sinlessness, has been presented to the Father in place of our guilt


and sinfulness.





Christ's presence in heaven is much like the appearance of an advocate


in a courtroom. When someone has been convicted of a crime and the


sentence is being pronounced, a defence attorney may plead for


leniency. Is this case, Christ has presented Himself as the One who


already paid for our sins.





Each of us is guilty of breaking the laws of our Creator. But we enjoy


forgiveness because Christ intercedes for us.





You may not have all of life's comforts but if your sins are forgiven


you are a free man or woman!





REMEMBER (Verse 26)





In order to let God care for you remember that Jesus is the kind of


priest we need because He is holy and blameless, unstained by sin.





2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be


the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God


through Christ."





I'm always looking for good deals but I have never found one better


than this! When I came to Christ and admitted that I was a sinner in


need of forgiveness He in turn gave me His righteousness!





I came into God's presence a beggar and left a joint-heir with Christ!





REALIZE (Verse 27)





Realize Christ's sacrifice for us is complete and does not need to be


repeated.





Verse 27 reads, Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to


offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and


then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when


he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people's sins. A veteran


friend of mine named John Barnacle died several years ago. He would


often rehearse to me (and to anyone else that would listen) the story


of the Air Force pilot on who crew he served in World War II. His eyes


would fill with tears as he told of how that pilot died saving his life


and the lives of the other crew members. Everyone got out alive except


the pilot who went down with the plane. He would say, "In that one act


of heroism, that man gave me the rest of my life!"





That's what Jesus did for you and me! In that one act of heroism on the


cross he gave us the rest of our lives on earth to live for Him and the


rest of eternity to live with him!





The levitical priests couldn't offer that. It took a priest of the


order of Melchizedek to do that! It took Jesus whose sacrifice in a


one-time act of heroism gave us an oportunity to live life to the


fullest!





We don't need anything else to be complete!





RECOGNIZE (Verse 28)





Trust Christ for your care because He is not weak in any area!





Verse 28 says, The law appointed high priests who were limited by human


weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an


oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.





Perfect.





There is nothing greater than perfection. The 1st Century Jewish


converts to Christ would be stepping backwards to trust their care to


anyone but Jesus.





So would we. We need to recognize Christ's perfection in order to let


God care for us through Christ.





He is perfect. We are not. We are weak. His is perfectly strong. ]]> Mon, 03 May 2010 14:42:14 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3538/god-does-care-part-3 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3538 Part 3


Hebrews 8:1-13








Last week we looked at some attitudes we need to have when we're facing


difficulty. We reconsidered the fact that the problem isn't always the


problem. The problem is our attitude, or our focus about our problems.


We need to focus on our Great High Priest, Jesus, who is able to help


us successfully confront any problem.





Last week we gave attention to our minds. Today we want to give


attention to our hearts. Ever sensed that you needed what we often call


a change of heart? You know some things in your mind but brain function


isn't enough.





I want to approach Hebrews chapter 8 in our last part of our series


"God Does Care"





It's one thing to change your mind, what you're going to think about


it's another to have a change of heart. And both these things can be


needed when we're discouraged. It's not that God doesn't care, it's


that our minds and hearts need changing. That's why this


week’s key verse is Hebrews 8:10:





"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on


that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will


write them on their hearts."





What we need is a supernatural act of God. This is a God-thing. There


are so many times when I try to do something naturally that only comes


supernaturally. I need to ascend to a higher plane.





Personally, I've often faced this in ministry. I try to do stuff for


God by my own strength. Ain't gonna happen. Even writing these sermons,


teaching the Scriptures to you takes God giving me the heart to do it.


I can't do it on my own.





Do you have anything like that in your life? A relationship? A job?


Finances? Forgiving someone?





Hebrew 8:





1 Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the


place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. Jesus


"sat down" because He was finished. He "sat down in the place of honor


beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven" because He was king as


well as priest. The Old Testament priest never sat down in the


tabernacle or Temple because He was never finished.





2 There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle the true place of


worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.





3 And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and


sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering too. 4 If he were


here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are


priests who offer the gifts required by the law. 5 They serve in a


system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in


heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God


gave him this warning: "Be sure that you make everything according to


the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain."





6 But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far


superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a


far better covenant with God, based on better promises.





7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no


need for a second covenant to replace it. 8 But when God found fault


with the people, he said: "The day is coming, says the LORD, when I


will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 9 This


covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I


took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did


not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says


the LORD. 10 But this is the new covenant I will make with the people


of Israel on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their


minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and


they will be my people.





11 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need


to teach their relatives, saying, 'You should know the LORD.' For


everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already. 12 And


I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their


sins.





13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he


has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon


disappear.





The main feature I want to draw out of this biblical portrait is the


emphasis on a new heart. Often, when we're facing difficulties we talk


about "losing heart," or becoming "disheartened." What can we do to


keep from thinking God doesn't care about us, like these first century


Hebrew Christ followers were?





This chapter encourages us in three ways. Remember I told you last week


that the key word in the Hebrews letter is "better." Here are three


things that are better about following Christ.





Better than the Old Covenant and better than anything or anyone!





1 As a Better Priest, Christ works from the inside out, not the outside


in. (That's the linch-pin of the New Covenant) God says, "I'll give you


a new heart." Why? Because God works from the inside out, not the


outside in.





I wrote to you in detail last week from Hebrews chapter 7 when I


mention to you about how Christ is a better priest, a priest after the


order of Melchisedek, not Aaron or Levi.





The one big thing that Jesus does when He is invited into a person's


life is to give him or her a new heart. Ezekiel foretold this New


Testament characteristic that didn't exist in the Old Testament. God


says to His people through the prophet:





"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove


from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will


put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful


to keep my laws." Ezekiel 36:26-27





When I need a change of heart I need to rely upon this Better Priest


named Jesus and let His Spirit fill me more so that I can cope with my


problem.





How is one filled with the Holy Spirit? Basically by emptying oneself


of him or herself! You don't have to beg and plead with God to fill you


with His Spirit. You just have to make room in your life if you want to


be filled.





What happens when I'm filled with the Spirit? I have a lesser desire


for fleshly things. I find it easier to do the things that God wants me


to do because I want to do them. I have God in me to a greater degree!





The closer my loving relationship with God, the more Christ is in me by


the Holy Spirit, the more I serve God from the inside out and not the


outside in. Now why do we care about this aspect of Christ’s


priesthood?





When I utilize this inside-out priesthood my problems don't shake me as


much. I'm human. I don't always practice the filling of the Holy


Spirit. But to the extent that I do, my difficulties in life don't


shake my faith! My friendship with God stablizes me!





I have a better priest than they had in the Old Testament and I need to


be filled with the Holy Spirit. That's why the Bible instructs me this


way:





"Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead,


be filled with the Holy Spirit." Ephesians 5:18 (NLT) [Literally, "be


being filled."]





Secondly,





2 As a better place, heaven is where our treasure is! I need to look


upward, not downward!





Heaven is the original. This earth is the copy. One of the reasons we


get so discouraged in life sometimes is because we place too much value


on this earth and not enough on heaven!





One time I watch the TV show on the History Channel called "Pawn Stars"


about a pawn shop in Las Vegas. People are always bringing the most


unusual items into the pawn shop to pawn or sell. I love the historical


significance of the items.





One guy brought in 5 Pete Rose baseball cards to sell. You could see


the dollar signs in his eyes! But the pawn shop owner could tell by the


coloration, etc. that they were copies of no real value. Had they been


originals they would have been valuable.





The really sad thing was the owner of the cards wouldn't believe it. He


still thought the cards were real.





That's how the majority of people feel about life on this planet. They


think this is the real life and what comes after is imaginary. Truth is


this life is the shadow. This life is temporary. What comes after is


forever and is the real deal!





This is what the Bible says about our life on earth: "Your life is like


the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone."


James 4:14b (NLT)





But of eternity Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from


heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread,


which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” John


6:51 (NLT)





Jesus is using an analogy. He's comparing receiving Him into your life


to eating bread. He is the living bread. If you make a faith commitment


to Him, you can live forever! Living with Him forever in heaven is the


real life we should address our lives to. The priests on earth were


serving in a Temple that was a copy. What kept God's people going when


the going got rough? They kept their gaze on heaven!





8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home


and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He


went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the


land God promised him, he lived there by faith for he was like a


foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited


the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city


with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God. Hebrews


11:8-10 (NLT)





God works from the inside-out. He wants us to look upward, not


downward. And: Thirdly,





3 Armed with better promises, our hearts have more assurance. We need


to operate by faith, not sight.





God's promises in the Old Testament were generally, "If you obey me I


will bless you." The condition for blessing was often obedience or what


we would call "good works."





The New Testament, or New Covenant, is different. God's promises are


based on the condition of faith. If I trust God He will bless me.





The other night a pastor friend wrote to me, "You know, we live here in


Florida now with a bunch of other retired people and lot of folks here


don't have enough faith to give their tithes and offerings because the


economy is in a recession and they're on fixed incomes." He went on to


remind me of how He and his wife were laid off from work years ago in a


previous recession and yet they still gave their tithes and offerings


and never had to pay a single bill one day late. He said, "You know, we


just trusted God's promises by faith and never once paid a bill one day


late!"





For the Christ follower, it is not the circumstances that dictate our


actions, it's our faith. We have the faith that leads us to trust God's


promises.





Last week we saw our mind affects our attitude.





This week we see that our hearts affects our actions. We live by faith


in God's promises, not by whether the sun is shining or whether it's


raining. So enjoy the journey ahead inspite of the obstacles that are


in our way. With faith small as a mustard seed Mountains will move.


Have a little faith.


]]> Tue, 11 May 2010 16:52:55 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3537/happy-mothers-day-mom https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3537

Proverbs 31:10-31 Ephesians 5:25-6:3










Today we take time to honor over half of the species of the human race.


She has often been called the crown of creation, the very best of the


work of God's hands. All of us who are here today have come through the


marvelous body of a woman. All of us who are here today owe a debt to


our mothers, for how do you pay someone for the gift of your life. But


not only do we owe a debt to our mothers, we owe debts to many women


who have shaped our lives as our grandmothers, our great grandmothers,


our sisters, our aunts, our teachers, our counselors, our pastors, and


in a thousand other ways.





We say Happy Mothers Day not only to the mother's who gave us life at


the start, but for all the women who have imparted life into us again


and again, as we have journeyed through life and needed help from


somebody else. Thank you ladies for being there to give it. You know we


say, we are to become more like Jesus. Jesus said, "I have come that


you might have life and have it more abundantly." Well that means, when


we come to people, we too should come bringing life to them. Women when


you invest yourself in another person, by bringing them life, you're


acting as the mother God would have you be.





When you ask the question what a mother could use, depending on who you


ask you may get all kinds of things. Some would say she could use a new


washer and dryer, some a new car, some a nice ring, some a new


housecoat, some eyes in the back of her head, some a new set of kids,


some a box of bandaids, and some a vacation where nobody knows where


she is.





Go with me for a moment back in time and envision Jesus there on the


cross. We see the Son of God nailed to the cross in great suffering and


pain, dying for the sins of the world. But down at the foot of the


cross, there is a woman who sees her son being cruelly and unjustly


murdered.





How would it feel to be made to watch the slow deliberate execution of


your own child. First imagine your child being tied to the ground with


four stakes in the dirt and spread eagle. The executioner walks and


shoots a hole in one hand, and then walks over to the other hand and


does the same thing. Then he goes over to his left foot and shoots


another round, and then over to the right one and does the same thing.





You see the blood spilling out and you want to stop it but you can't.


And then they drop a heavy concrete block on your child's chest making


breathing more difficult with each breath.





The weight of the concrete block is leading to suffocation because


there's not enough energy in your child’s body to lift it for


breathing. You don't know whether your child will pass out from the


loss of blood or die of suffocation first. What feelings are going


through your mind?





Is your body shaking or trembling? Are you thinking this was not


suppose to happen? You are experiencing some of the same emotions that


was gripping Mary, the mother of Jesus as she watches the crucifixion.





This mother's heart is being ripped to shreds and her pain is beyond


comprehension. Jesus's love for his mother is so great, that he puts


aside all of his own agony and suffering for a minute to share in the


grief of his Mom. And at that moment, he was not thinking of descending


into hell to destroy death or to set free any captives. He was thinking


about the future of his mother, and what she was going to need. What it


was she could use. That's why he looked at the disciple John and told


him, "from now on John, I want you to take care of my mother as you


know I would have."





I wonder if the reason Jesus had called John in the first place was to


equip him to be able to take care of his mother once Jesus was gone.


You see when John first came to Jesus, he was called one of the sons of


thunder, but he became known as the disciple "whom Jesus loved" and was


later known as the beloved disciple. Jesus loved John a little extra,


because he wanted to put some extra love into John to be able to take


care of his mom when he was gone. From the day of the crucifixion on,


John became Mary's son, and Mary became his mom. You don't have to give


birth to become a mother. You just have to be willing to invest and to


receive back from others. Men there is a challenge here for us for the


older widows who have no family to step in and become a son and turn a


woman into a mother.





What could Mary use that day, the same thing all mothers could use and


that was somebody that was going to stand by her side in her moments of


grief and agony. She needed a shoulder to cry on. Being a mother is one


of the most challenging and daunting task in life.


Many times things do not turn out in life in the way we want them to.


Mary had great plans for Jesus' life just like many of you have great


plans for your own children. But sometimes the dreams and the plans we


may have are shattered by the realities of life and when it happens,


mothers need a shoulder to cry on.





In God's plan for motherhood, the mother's first shoulder to cry upon


should be that of her husband. Men, what kind of a shoulder or comfort


are we when our wives are in pain either physically or emotionally. Are


we cold and indifferent? Do we simply give the advice to shake it off


and get over it? Or do we remember that verse, "husbands love your


wives as Christ loved the church, who gave Himself up for her." This


"Mother’s Day," men could we make the commitment to be more gentle and


more embracing of our wives during their difficult moments even going


beyond what we may already be doing.





Today we find plenty of mothers in which there is no father in the


home, but that does not stop them from needing a shoulder to cry upon


at times. This is where we the body of Christ, needs to be the family


God has called us to be. You know it's easy to look at young mothers


today and complain of how their kids are out of control. But Christ


does not call us to complain, He calls us to invest. The older women


ought to invest themselves into the younger women to help them not only


understand the role of a mother, but also just to be there for them


when they need somebody to stand by their side.





Somebody who can just hold them and let them cry for a while. Somebody


who's not going to take advantage of them in their moments of weakness.


Every mother is going to need to cry at some point. The challenge is


for us to be there with support. Women that's why Sisters in the Lord


is an important part of our ministry. If you've got a good relationship


with an older woman to talk with, then there may not be the need to


just run and find any old kind of man to talk with and be used by. We


have God's word telling us to rejoice with those who rejoice and to cry


with those who cry.





Do you realize how many lonely people there are in the church who don't


have to be lonely. God has placed people in the church that you can be


a mother to, if you want to have your life enriched. God has placed


within you a great capacity to love, but you have to choose to unleash


it.





One of the things Jesus saw that Mary could use and that all mothers


can use is some help. We truly expect a lot out of mothers in their


many, many roles, but how often do we think about the help they need.


It is so easy to become so accustomed to their sacrifices that we stop


thinking of them as sacrifices on their part, and start to think of


them as our own entitlements.





Somehow we think that it is an ultimate honor and privilege for our


mothers or our wives to prepare a meal for us. They have sacrificed


their time and energy to make a meal for us, and do we honor them with


appreciation. Do we say, "oh great and wonderful woman, we do not


deserve the effort that has gone into making this meal and our behalf,


and we thank you for taking care of our daily nutritional needs."


Mothers could use this every once in a while.





Some mothers are more likely to hear—"oohh what is this? Or do we have


to eat this again." A good habit that your mother could use from you or


your wife can use is to simply say thank you Mom for the meal after


every meal she prepares. It only takes about three seconds, but it can


lift her spirits for a long time. Mothers could use some thank you's


not only for dinner, but for rides, for attending your events, for


washing, for picking up after you, for ironing, for listening and for


caring. When was the last time you said "thank you mom or thank you


sweetheart?" Every now and then Mom needs to hear, "I appreciate you


for all that you do."





Men when our kids leave the home, that might be a good time to realize


our wives may need even more help with the household work and chores.


Youth do you look for ways at home to try to help your mother out or


are you content with just being selfish and thinking about yourself.


One thing Mothers could use and I'm trying to work on it, is before you


leave a room, look around and see if there is something messed up that


you can help clean up, especially if you made the mess in the first


place. We all know how we like for somebody to do something nice for


us. Jesus told us, "do for others what you would like for them to do


for us." This is part of the command to be kind and tenderhearted to


one another.





When Jesus told John to take care of His mom, "John didn’t say, aw do I


have to, Are you going to make Peter and James also help out. I was


planning on doing something else."


Mothers could use a spirit of volunteers around the house. People who


will do what they're suppose to do without two things 1.) Without


having to be told and reminded again and again. You know what your


chore is. Just go do it. Turn off the TV and do it.





2) The second is without an attitude problem. John did not give Jesus


any back talk. He didn't role his eyes at Mary thinking of her as some


kind of burden in his life. He felt it an honor to be able to help his


new Mom. I don't care how old we get, we never should have an attitude


problem with our mothers. The first commandment with a promise attached


to it is to honor your father and your mother that your days may be


longer.





God keeps a pretty close record of how we treat our mothers. God wants


our respect for our mothers to be as high as possible. We may not think


they deserve it, but as a Christian, we do not always do things because


people deserve them, we do them because God's word commands it. Mothers


can use our respect.





When Jesus told his Mother Mary, from now on, John is to be your son,


Mary trusted Jesus to do the right thing. Mothers can use our trust.


Our mothers want the best for us, but they cannot be with us every


moment of the day. But can they trust that we will carry their presence


with us. Praise God for all of you young people who can be trusted. Are


you the kind of a young person your mother can trust to do the right


thing or have you chosen to be a cheater, a liar or a deceiver? You


have a choice. So often the choices you make will end back at your


mother's lap and they will either cause her great joy or a lot of grief.





When you take money out of your mother's purse do you realize you're


stealing the money she needs to feed you, to clothe you or to pay the


rent so that you're not sleeping in the streets. As adults when we take


money out of the accounts of our parents over which we have


guardianship, do we recognize that as a breaking of trust that God has


placed us in. The Bible says when we steal from our parents we are like


people who are destroyers of the things around them.





Can your mother trust you to treat your younger sisters with respect


and not look at them with their clothes off or touch them in the wrong


way? Can she trust you with her daughters or her sons? Can she trust


you with guys or with girls, or do you try to sneak guys or girls in


the home when she's gone believing you are doing the right thing. You


see when you do that, you're putting her future at risk.





Even as adults, when you go out and get involved sexually, you may say


its your business what you do, but often times mothers are paying a


price taking care of your children. Grandparents are supposed to be


grandparents, not parents unless they willingly choose to be parents.


If you're not ready to be a full time parent, then sex should not be a


part of your life because you're changing your mother's life. God's


plan for sex has always been for it to stay inside of a marriage. We


all live better when we follow God's simple command.





Can she trust you to be honest about where you are going, what you're


going to do when you get there, and who you actually are going to be


with. I'm amazed at how often teenagers will throw in their parents


face, "oh you don't trust me." While at the same time they are doing


things that they know they should not be doing. We know when we're


wrong. Sometimes we have to convince ourselves that wrong is right in


order to keep doing what we're doing.





It's something how we think we know it all and do not need to listen,


and yet the moment we get locked up in jail, usually the first person


we want to call with our phone call is our mother.


The person who was trusting us to do what was right. All of sudden we


become the innocent victim. We didn't know the car was stolen when we


got in it. Well did you try to find out before you got in? Would it


have truly mattered if you had known. Sometimes once you get running


with the wrong group, it's hard to back out.





Jesus could see that his mother could use a little understanding. There


on the cross, he was telling John, she needs a son willing to


understand her. You see, from the very beginning before she got


pregnant, Mary had been told by an angel that Jesus was going to be the


Son of God and that His reign was never going to end. But that day on


the cross, it looked like it was all over before it had truly began.


Mary began to doubt the promises she had been given.


John could understand where Mary was coming from, because he too along


with the other disciples had thought it would be impossible for Jesus


to die. Jesus didn't say, didn't I tell you both I was going to die.


Instead Jesus was understanding.





Our mothers could use a little more understanding. A willingness on our


part to see things from their point of view. It's easy to forget, that


mothers need some time alone just for themselves just like all the rest


of us do. As much as they love their children, they need a break from


their children's demands. Again as a church, we can offer to take their


kids for a night or a weekend just to let them be free.





Jesus could see that His mother could use some forgiveness. He had


tried to tell her that there was a greater call on His life than just


the role of her son. She of all people should have known His true


purpose, His true identity as the Son of God. But Mary for whatever


reason, made the mistake of forgetting the prophecies. She wanted him


down off of that cross and back into her arms. She made the mistake of


forgetting she needed a Savior.





All of our mothers are going to make mistakes. Sometimes we're going to


be telling the truth, but they're not going to believe us. They will


blame us for things we did not do or were not planning on doing. They


will make decisions that will hurt us. They will not always be there


for us. They will not encourage us the way they should. They will not


always be as loving and as pleasant as they could have been. They may


not have treated us the same as they did our other brothers and


sisters. They may have made our lives far more painful and difficult


than needed to be done. Let it go and take the higher road to life.





As Jesus recognized his own mother needed forgiveness and He graciously


gave it to her, let us likewise be willing to forgive our mothers for


the mistakes they made and are yet going to make. They cannot go back


and undue the harm done to us, anymore than we can go back and undo the


harm that we caused to others.





Let us not forget that we all have a sin problem that we need to deal


with and that it can only be handled by the death of Jesus Christ dying


on that cross. For all of us have messed up and come short of what God


requires of us. Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Are


you saved and sure of not only going to heaven, but walking with Jesus


in this life.





This Mother's Day can be a day of reconciliation, of healing, and of a


fresh new start if that's what we choose to make it. Don't forget the


challenges I've given to you today, to make a change in your own life,


in order that you might bring life into the life of someone else. Let's


all work to provide our mothers, our wives, our grandmothers and the


women around us with some of the things they can use.
]]> Tue, 11 May 2010 16:57:49 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3528/gods-amazing-grace https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3528 Luke 18:9-14





It's easy for us, looking around and seeing all the horrendous sin in


our culture and in our world, to think we're OK. It's easy for us to


look at the rampant sexual sin, the adultery, the moral free-fall our


culture seems to be in, the awful crimes like rape, murder,


sex-trafficking, even genocide, and think how much worse all these


sinners are than we are.





It's easy to look at the world, and note that according to some


research, there are 27 million people in the world in slavery today, a


very grievous sin to us and certainly to God and though this reality


grieves us, we think, I'd never do that.








After all, we're Christians. We're saved. We're not like that.





And in many ways, of course, that's true. We remember, too, why His


grace and mercy are so needed, so absolutely necessary, to each of us.





1 John 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves


and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and


righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all


unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar


and His word is not in us.





Since I don't want to lie to you, I have to tell you this: I sin daily.


Oh, only a handful of people closest to me ever see the sins I commit,


because there are sins of attitude, habitual sins and sins of the


heart. But these sins are every bit as much as offense to a Holy God,


and are reason enough to condemn me to eternity in hell apart from


God's saving grace in Christ, every bit as much as those sins that I


read about in the paper, or see on television, and shake my head and


think "what a world we live in."





Of course, there are some reading this who have committed adultery.


Some of us have committed some grievous sins, or even visible sins. You


know, it seems to me that those who have experienced God's mercy in


sins such as these, sometimes have a greater understanding of God's


mercy than those of us who haven't.





I think that's because, if we've never committed one of the "big" sins,


one of those sins listed in one of Paul's many lists in several


different epistles, we have the tendency to think that somehow we're


more worthy, somehow we're better than those who have committed those


sins.








Many of us who is reading this have an amazing testimony of how we came


to Christ. Some of us were drug abusers, some committed crimes. Some of


us can talk of God's amazing grace from the standpoint of the awful


sins He has delivered us from.





1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NIV) Do you not know that the wicked will not


inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually


immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor


homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor


slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.





When we read a passage like this, some of us can say God saved us from


these kinds of things. Others of us read this and think, not so much.





But even in a list like this, almost all of us can find ourselves. For


example, if we're honest, we've all been idolaters in one way, shape or


form. We may not be adulterers, prostitutes, thieves or drunkards. But


are we slanderers? Are we idolaters?





My testimony of my life doesn't include things like many of you can


claim. If anything mine would be worse than most when it comes to sin.


I don't speak much of where I come from to many people because I am not


proud of what I did, yet I use that testimony when it is


needed to those who needs to hear them and to only those kind of


people. As with your testimony, it will not work on anyone


but to those who needs to hear it.





I do love my wife and have never cheated on her. Never got in trouble


with the law, I've gotten only one warning ticket in almost


33 years of driving. I'm good with my children, I work hard


for a living. Pretty good by most people's standards of good.








Yet, our standing before God is not measured by the world's standards.


Inwardly, my righteousness is, as the Word tells us, like filthy rags.


My righteousness is absolutely worthless before God. Only Jesus'


righteousness is sufficient to bring me true righteousness, the kind


that God accepts, the kind measured by His holy standard.





That's part of the message in Jesus' parable of the repentant publican,


or tax-collector.





Luke 18:9-14 (NIV) To some who were confident of their own


righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this


parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the


other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself:


'God, I thank you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers,


adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and


give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a distance.


He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said,


'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather


than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts


himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."





Just because I've committed some really terrible, very


visible sin, and some of you reading this, have amazing testimonies of


the sins God has delivered you from. That doesn't mean we need to go


out and commit some of these sins that this Pharisee was thanking God


he didn't ever commit. Because the truth is, in a very real way, sin is


sin.





Yes there are certainly greater consequences to some sins. Yet, God's


standard of holiness is so much greater than any good things I can


claim in my life. We must recognize the sinfulness of sin. Any kind of


sin. Sin is so horrible, so heinous, that it took the blood of Jesus to


pay for these sins, and then His death, and then His resurrection, to


overcome sin's power of death, and give us eternal life.





It's possible to be externally, visibly, moral and good, yet still to


be sinful and unrighteous before God. It's also true that after we are


justified before God, after we have received the gift of grace in


Christ, after we're saved, we live a lifetime process of being


sanctified, or changed and transformed into His image. During that


lifetime process, even as the transformation progresses, we still sin,


and we still need God's forgiving grace and mercy.








Many of you have heard the story of John Newton. He's best known as the


composer of the great hymn Amazing Grace. The lyrics of that song,


which many of you sung many times, include the first verse, which says


"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me."





Wretch isn't a word you hear much these days. But you know what: I'm a


wretch. You're a wretch. A wretch is by definition: "a person of


despicable or base character." Some of you may still be offended


by this and I'm sorry, but God did change this man. It's too


bad it took awhile to make him realize that. God can change


the worst murderer if he or she comes to Christ. For example: If I told


you where I've been in my life, some of you would even be offended


right now of who I use to be, but I am no longer that person for I am


who I am today thanks to Jesus Christ.





John Newton called himself a wretch because he was a sinner like us,


but worse still, he was a slave ship captain. I've heard the story of


John Newton before, and when you hear his story, you think, wow, God


saved this man, delivered him from his sin, and changed him. And God


did in fact do this.





But did you know this? Newton served as a slave ship captain for about


10 years. 10 years of hauling human cargo to a life of slavery. But


most of those years of delivering slaves to their fate, about 7 years,


as nearly as I can figure in my research on this, most of those years


were after he was saved!





Newton traces his own conversion to a night when he survived a severe


storm at sea, and cried out for God's mercy.





Let me continue with the story, as told by Mark McMinn in Christianity


Today:








His blind eyes may have been opened on that dismal night, but not wide


enough. Upon his return to Liverpool, Newton promptly signed on as mate


of another ship and sailed to Africa, where the (new) Christian


traveled from village to village buying human beings and returning them


as cargo. He then sailed across the Atlantic, studying a Latin Bible in


his quarters as 200 slaves lay in the hull, shackled two by two,


squeezed into shelves like secondhand books. As many as a third died


during the long voyage across the ocean, and many more suffered serious


illnesses. When the ship arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, Newton


delivered these men, women, and children into a life of toil and


oppression while he sat in church services and took leisurely strolls


through fields and woods outside Charleston.





This article reports that in his journal, after he'd been converted, as


he still continued this dirty business of buying and selling slaves,


Newton wrote that being a slave ship captain was optimal for "promoting


the life of God in the soul."





How can this be? How can a person who's saved continue to be involved


in such a horrible sin, taking captive his fellow human beings and


facilitating their sale into a lifetime of slavery?





But, again if we're honest with ourselves, we must see ourselves in his


story.





John Newton fell short of God's desire for his life. Not forever. He


went on to become a minister of the gospel. He went on to write Amazing


Grace.





But the reality is that, for most of us, change comes slowly. Yes, we


may be delivered from some sins almost immediately.








Before I was a believer, I had quite the potty mouth. I could swear


like a sailor. Almost immediately after I came to Christ, that was gone.





But our experience is that, while God may illustrate His grace to us by


immediately delivering us from some sins, it takes our entire lifetime


to transform us into the image and likeness of Christ.





Many years later, after he had quit the slavery business, Newton wrote


these words in his great hymn.





"was blind, but now I see."





One of his friends recalled that he never spent a half hour with Newton


without hearing his remorse for trading slaves. It was always on his


mind, always reminding him of his need for God's grace. At the end of


his life Newton said to his friends,


"My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: That I am a great


sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior."








It's not that hard to see the sin in other people's lives. It's often


more difficult to see our own. If a man like John Newton can go for


years, as a follower of Christ no less, and not see this awful sin in


his life, don't we have to wonder what sin-blindness we have in


ourselves?





Quoting again from this article:


A robust finding from social science research is that most people think


they are better than others; more ethical, considerate,


industrious, cooperative, fair, and loyal. People think they obey the


Ten Commandments more consistently than others. One polling expert


noted, "It's the great contradiction: the average person believes he is


a better person than the average person." Sixteen centuries earlier


Augustine bemoaned: "[My] sin was all the more incurable because I did


not judge myself to be a sinner."





Theologians discuss the noetic effects of sin, meaning that our


intellect is dulled our eyes closed as a result of


living in a fallen state. In the narrow sense, it means we cannot


reason well enough to see our need for salvation unless God, in grace,


first reaches out to us. In a broader sense, it means our awareness of


sin is dulled in various ways by pride. Mark McMinn





So, where does this reality leave us? We have a couple of options. We


can be like the Pharisee, in the parable we just read, and thank God


that we're not like all those people in the world who are doing things


so much worse than we'll ever do.





Or we can come to the table of grace, where God is holding out to us


His forgiveness, His mercy, and admit we need it.








I need it.





We can come and say, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." This week,


let's remember what Jesus did, what was accomplished on the cross.





But let's remember why it was necessary.





You don't need grace or mercy if you're perfect. You don't need


forgiveness if you never sin. Jesus sacrificial gift of His precious


blood was necessary because we are sinners.





It's necessary for us to remember His body given for us. It's necessary


for us to remember His blood, shed for us. Because that's what it took


to remove the stain of sin from us, the sins we committed before we


were saved, the sins we've committed since then and the sins we'll


commit tomorrow.





As we sinners come to God, let's come with honesty, and humility and


repentance. That's how God would have us come to Him.








Isaiah 57:15 (NLT) The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the


Holy One, says this: "I live in the high and holy place with those


whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of


the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.





Isaiah 66:2 (NIV) This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and


contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. And as Jesus told us in


the passage we read from Luke moments ago:





"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles


himself will be exalted."





Lets approach Him with humility, and repentance, realizing


we bring nothing of worth to God.





Jesus didn't die for us because we are valuable; we are valuable


because Christ died for us.


]]> Sun, 23 May 2010 02:16:58 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3510/what-do-you-have-left-when-there-is-nothing-left https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3510

1 Samuel 30:1-31 Philippians 3:7-14










Do any of you remember as a kid wanting to buy some cookies or some ice


cream but not having any money to do it? I can remember we would look


in every nook and cranny of the sofa to find us a coin or two. We'd


look in the closet on the floor, and we'd check every old pocketbook we


could find. We rejoiced just as much in putting together ten cents as


someone who had won the lottery. We found out there was often more left


than we had first thought.





There are going to be times in our lives when we are going to want


things, and we are going to come up short. Sometimes it is okay to come


up short. Our plans for life don't always go the way we planned them to


go.





We didn't set our lives planning to get a felony conviction. We didn't


plan to become a teen mother. We didn't plan to lose our job. We didn't


plan to fail in school. We didn't plan to get cut from the team. We


didn't plan to have the person we love die. We didn't plan for our


spouse to leave us. We didn't plan for the divorce. We didn't plan for


the crisis and the crime that happened to us. We didn't plan to be


betrayed.





We didn't plan to lose our health. We didn't plan to have to take care


of our kids now that they are adults. We didn't plan to lose our


business or our jobs. We didn't plan on our family turning out the way


that it did. We didn't plan to look the way we now do. We didn't plan


that addictions would hit us or someone we love. There are just a lot


of bad things that happen to us and around us that we did not plan.





Somebody told us that if we just come to Jesus and give our lives to


God, everything will be fine and the problems will be gone. Some even


told us that God wants us all to be continuously healthy and wealthy,


and if you have enough faith, you can name it and claim it and have it.


Unfortunately some of us believed that and have discovered that it's


not true. Some have lost faith in God over this.





When Jesus called us to come and follow him, Jesus never said, His goal


was to make us rich and to give us everything we wanted as a sign of


His appreciation for us joining His team. What Jesus promised us was an


opportunity to know God the Father as Jesus knew Him.





Jesus told us up front that following Him was not going to be an easy


task. As a matter of fact He told us our peace is going to have to be


found in Him, because in this world we will experience trials,


troubles, and tribulations. Nobody gets an exemption. If you live long


enough, you will suffer either because of the sins of others or because


of your own sin.





We make plans in our attempt to create a safe space for us. There's


nothing wrong with planning for the future as long as you know that


plan is subject to change with or without your approval. If I save


enough money, I will have a safe space for retirement. If I get that


job with that income, I'll have a safe space for me and my family's


level of comfort. If I marry that person I will have a safe space from


loneliness.





If I have kids, I'll have a safe space for someone to help look after


me when I'm old. If I make that team, I'll have a safe space of


acceptance at school. If I can get in with that group, I'll have a safe


space of friends. We're all looking for some kind of safe space to live


our lives.





Come journey with me to the time of David. He was a young man who had


faithfully served the king. The king was so impressed with David's


ability and anointing, that he placed David over his entire army. But


the king became jealous of David, because the people boasted of what


David had done in battle as compared to the king.





They said, "King Saul has slain his thousands, but David his tens of


thousands." The king determined to kill David, and he pursued him


ruthlessly throughout the country. David knew the only way he would


find safety for him and his family was to leave the country and go into


the land of the Philistines. The king had branded him as a terrorist.


He knew the king would not cross the borders into enemy territory. So


David struck up a deal with one of the Philistine rulers, and the ruler


gave David the city of Ziklag. David had finally found him a safe space


in which to live. No doubt some people referred to him as David of


Ziklag.





The problem with safe spaces is that we can put our identity in them


and if we lose them, then we think we have lost everything. Where you


live is nowhere near as important as the fact that you are alive. As a


Christian, we are to hold lightly to everything that we claim to be our


own. Everything that we have, we will either lose or leave it behind,


except for our relationship to God. You have to know that first and


foremost, you have been called to be a child of God. That is your


identity and that you cannot lose.





Your money, your possessions, your friends, your career, your children,


your position, your spouse, your family, and everything else you think


is yours can be lost or taken away. Sometimes that which you hold


closest to your heart, you will lose, and it will hurt. It will hurt


badly. But you are still a child of God with access to God's hope,


God's strength and God's power.





Why do you think God wants you to be in the kingdom of God? It's


because God wants to be in a relationship with you, and God wants you


to want to be in a relationship with Him.





Sometimes it is not enough to just have somebody with you. You want the


person "to want" to be with you. Otherwise you will say, "if you really


don't want to be here you can leave." We come to God, to get to know


God. God wants to show Himself through all the circumstance of our


lives, and not just in the five minute prayer time that we call


devotions.





God wants to reveal Himself to us right where we are everyday of the


week. That means even when we are in a crisis. Even when we're having


an attitude problem. Even when what we love is taken away.





Even when we don't get what we really wanted to get. God is going to be


there with us and God wants us to know He is with us.





The issue is not so much what I'm going through right now, but rather


are we open to being aware of the presence of God with us in it. If we


are, we are going to want to be pleasing to God even in this


circumstance. We know that our lives are not simply about us, but about


what God is doing in and through us.





Our problem comes in wanting God to remodel our lives, but God is


saying no. God is going to rebuild our lives, and that may mean going


all the way back down to the foundation and making sure it is laid


properly. That means demolishing a whole lot of stuff. Are you open to


being rebuilt today with what you have left?





David and his men had been called by the Philistine leader who had


given him the city of Ziklag, to join in the battle against King Saul


and David's own people. David responded of course he would go to fight,


but he had to have been praying, "Lord what on earth am I going to do


in the battle? I can't fight against my own people."





The other Philistine leaders didn't want David and his men to go to war


with them, because they felt David and his men might jump ship, and


help King Saul in order to get back in on his good side. They told


David to go back to Ziklag.





No doubt David and his men were thrilled to have avoided this conflict.


I can see them offering praise and worship to God for this huge answer


to prayer. They can't wait to get back to their wives and families in


order to celebrate. It was a three day journey back to Ziklag.





All was normal until they got close enough to the city to sense


something was not right. There were no scouts from the city to welcome


them in. No sound of animals baaing and mooing. There was a smell of


burned wood in the atmosphere. The closer they got, the more blackened


structures they ran into. When they finally reached the city, probably


in a run and a panic by now, there is not a sound of voice or a living


person anywhere in site.





Ziklag, the safe haven of their identity had been attacked and burned.


It seems that the Amelikites knew that the nations of Israel &


Philistine would be fighting, and the men would be off in battle. It


was the perfect time for them to attack the outer cities and carry off


their wealth and to make the people their slaves.





Everyone's family members were gone, as well as all their possessions.


What started out as regular day has become a day of disaster. All the


men weep and cry out in pain over the loss of seemingly everything.


When we lose that which is dear to us, we want to put the blame on


somebody or something? We want to make somebody pay for this?





Some of the men decided to blame David. "If you had not of made us go


be with the Philistines, we would have been here to protect our


families and this would not have happened to us."





So often in our pain, we think, "if only I had of been there I could


have stopped this." Have you ever said that? We may say, "God why


didn't you warn me, so that I could have done such and such." I can


remember losing my mother in whom I was very close to. I had a hard


time with that. My family had a hard time prying me away from her


coffin when it was time for us to bury her. I wanted to blame someone


for this but I couldn't.





Our bad experiences are going to leave us very bitter if we do not seek


to be aware of the presence of God in our situation. I could never love


my mother nearly as much as God did, and yet God did not intervene to


heal her at that time from my perspective. I say from my perspective,


because I don't know what God did in those final moments for my mother


and what their conversation was like as she was passing from this life


to the next.





Some of David's men became so despondent that they wanted to organize a


stoning party to put David to death. They couldn't see that David was


hurting just like they were hurting, because his family was also gone.


It's sad when our desire for revenge or to get even in our crisis,


blinds us from seeing the pain and the hurt our own actions may be


causing to others.





The Scriptures says, "David was greatly distressed because of this talk


of stoning him, but David found strength in the Lord his God. The


difference is that David chose to become aware of the presence of God.


At this point he did not have anything more materially than the rest of


the men. He had lost his status as the great leader, because they


questioned his leadership and wanted him dead. They claimed to have


nothing left.





Often times we think we cannot do the will of God because we have


nothing left. Moses was trying to get out of doing God's will for his


life, and God asked him, "what do you have in your hand." Moses said,


"are you talking about this staff, this stick that I picked up to climb


up here."





God was basically asking Moses "what do you have left." Moses saw a


stick. That same stick was going to cause plagues to come on Egypt and


bring it to its knees. That same stick was going to split open the Red


Sea.





So often coming out of a crisis we underestimate what we still have


left. You may have to start all over again. You may have to lose your


home. You may have to let go of something or someone. But if you still


have the presence of God, you are no poorer than you were before.





David cried out to the Lord for his situation and he found some


strength in the Lord. Next he found some other people who knew the Lord


and sought advice from them in discovering God's will. How often do we


go to the wrong people for advice when we find ourselves in a crisis?


Don't go to people who will tell you what you want to hear, go to


people who will tell you what God wants you to hear.





David got a plan together and he presented to Abiathar to see if it was


within God's will. Abiathar told him yes it is God's will, and yes you


will succeed. David took 600 men to go and find the people who had


destroyed Ziklag. But the plan did not go as expected. After a while


200 men said, they just could not go any further. They were too


exhausted to continue the journey.





I want us to see that even when we are the plan God has given approval


to, there are still going to be some setbacks and moments of


discouragement. But we continue to journey. You didn't get in debt all


at once, you won't get out in a week or two. You didn't let your


marriage deteriorate all at once, you won't get it back altogether in a


week or two. Stay with the plan God has given you, and let the Lord


provide you the next step. Expect God to show up.





Once the 400 continued on, God led them to a man dying in the field.


They gave him some water and food, and the man was able to tell them


everything they needed to know about regaining their families and their


possessions. David and his men came upon a much larger army. God


allowed them to arrive at the same time this larger army was partying


and getting drunk, completely unprepared for battle. God gave them a


victory and they recovered all of their family members and more


possessions than they had ever had before.





Having experienced God's grace and generosity, made David a more


gracious and generous person. Being aware of God's presence, makes us


more like God. When the army started home, the issue of the 200 men who


did not make it into battle came up. Some said, "the only thing we


should do for them is to let them take their wives and children and


that's it."





But David said, "No. They stayed back and guarded our bags. They shall


get the same reward from the spoils of war as all the rest of us. David


also sent plunder back to some of the other elders in his home country


and won their support for the day when he was to become king. David was


willing to forget the things in the past, and look forward to a day


that was coming.





That crisis, that disappointment, that loss that you suffered does not


mean that God dropped the ball on you. What you may need to see is that


God has been there all along, but you did not welcome his presence


because it did not fit your plan? God wants to work something in you


through this knock down of a blow you have been given.





Being knocked down is not the same as being knocked out? Having a plan


fail, is not the same as being a failure in life. Losing a lot does not


mean, there's nothing left. God loves you just as much on this side of


your trial as God did on the other side. Jesus prays to the Father on


our behalf everyday. The Holy Spirit is the comforter who will lead and


guide is into truth.





Are you willing to let go of the past, with all its hurts and


disappointments and bitterness and acknowledge your role in the harm


that was done? Are you willing to open your hands and let go of that


which you call your own so that your identity will be in God and God


alone? Are you willing to press on toward the prize of the high calling


of getting to know Jesus Christ?





Let us not pray just for a successful life in terms of everything going


our way, because we will surely be disappointed. Let us pray for a life


in which we are aware of the presence of God no matter what it is we


are going through. Let us bring God out of the prayer closet and into


the everyday realm of our lives.





Our goal each day should be to love God as much as possible, through


the many ways in which we go about our daily schedule. If we go an hour


without thinking about God, ask for forgiveness and get back on the


journey. No matter how much you think you have lost, if you still have


Jesus left, then you have enough to make it in this life and in the


life to come.


]]> Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:20:48 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3499/end-of-the-world https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3499

Matthew 25:13








A lot of you, I am sure, are aware of the fact that there has been an


upsurge in the news concerning the 2012 and the prediction of the end


of the world. This week I believe that God wants me to preach about


this.





There is popular movie out right now that depicts the events of the end


of the earth with truly outstanding graphical effects. Of course they


depict it as though it is not really the end, but a series of


tremendous natural disasters that encompass all of the things that


scientists have been saying about global warming, earthquakes and other


things. In the end, man is able to save himself from annihilation and


is able to begin again to build a better world. It's man saving himself


as usual and God has nothing to do with it in the movie. But how much


of what we are hearing can we believe? Is 2012 a date that we should be


preparing ourselves for?





First let's establish what the real hoopla of 2012 is all about.


According to an ancient civilization of Mayans, a tribe of


superstitious people who lived in what is now called the southern part


of Mexico about 1000 years ago, we are nearing the end of the world as


we know it. The Mayans are famous because they managed to create a


written language and accomplish some pretty amazing engineering marvels


long before any other people in the western hemisphere. Of course, all


of these skills had been accomplished thousands of years before in


Israel, Egypt and most of the Eastern Hemisphere.





The interest in the Mayan calendar, and the fact that so many people


are concerned over what the Mayans had to say, is baffling when you


consider that the prophecies of the Word of God existed in Hebrew and


Greek scrolls many centuries before the Mayan Calendar, or the Mayan


civilization reached its potential. Yet man would rather believe


something that man has figured out, rather than to believe in the Word


of God.





According to the Mayan Calendar, which is confusing, contradictory, and


requires many hours of study to interpret; the sun, moon and planets


will all come into perfect alignment of some sort and will trigger some


ethereal cosmic energy that will mark the dawning of a new day for


mankind.





I'm here to tell you that every day is a new day for mankind; and the


power and energy that brings the day forward is the awesome power of


God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I don't need some ancient


Mayan Priest to cut the head off a chicken, or throw a set of bones, or


stare at the sun for hours to tell me that. All I have to do is read


the Bible.





In the beginning God created the earth, brought forth the sun and moon,


created day and night, and started the cycle of seasons, months and


years that has continued to this day.





After creating all things, God said in Genesis 8:22, "While the earth


remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and


winter, and day and night shall not cease." So it isn't some great


mystery to know that, should the earth remain, tomorrow the sun will


rise again.





But the Mayans had never read the Bible and so they had to rely only on


what they could see of the natural world around them to try to


interpret the future. Since they were very much into early forms of


astrology and astronomy, they began to develop a whole system of life


and of worship based on the positions of the stars and planets at given


times of the year. That's how they established their calendar for


planting, harvesting and daily life.





They noticed things like eclipses and how the moon and star alignments


would change with the passing of the night all during their year. Some


of them sat gazing for months on end and they began to see slight


changes in the positions of the stars of the night over a long period


of time. And so they used this new found knowledge to establish their


calendar.





Now we all know that God set the stars in the sky and with the passing


of the months and the changes in the seasons, the positions of the


constellations change. As each pattern of stars moves across the sky,


God has laid them out in specific patterns that show the story of the


coming of the Messiah and of the Kingdom of God.





Psalms 19:1-4, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament


sheweth his handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto


night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their


voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and


their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle


for the sun,"





The important thing to note here is that there is some truth about the


alignment of the stars and their ability to tell of some future events.


However, they do contradict the Word of God, but are place in support


of what God has to say. After all, God put them there for a purpose,


not only to give us light in the darkness, and make the night sky


beautiful to look upon, but to enlightened the heart of men who would


take the time to learn what they had to say.





The problem is that astrology and occultism have changed the message to


be something that it was never intended to be. We are not to base our


lives on the alignment of the planets and stars. We are to base our


lives on the Word of God and the Lord Jesus Christ alone. The power


that controls my life, and yours, is not found in the stars, but in the


hand of God.





The Mayans somehow figured out long mathematical calculations and then


formed predictions based on how the stars would be aligned on certain


dates far into the future; even beyond the very existence of their own


civilization.





My question is that if the Mayans were so smart and knew how to predict


the future, why didn't they figure out that they would become extinct


and then try to stop it from happening? They eventually were destroyed


by the Spanish, either through wars or through the new diseases that


the Spanish brought, that wiped out entire villages.





The Mayan Calendar was discovered among the ruins of their civilization


and many people have dedicated their whole life into learning what it


had to say. One of their great discoveries was that the entire calendar


was created to be an ancient clock, counting down the days until it


reached a zero hour when all the planets would be in perfect position


to cause the end of the world and the beginning of a new one.





The date and time that the Mayan Calendar comes to an end is very


precise. It marks the end of the world as Friday, December 21, 2012 at


11:11:11 AM (Coordinated Universal Time, which is the time established


universally according to the Atomic Clock at Fort Collins, Colorado)





If that's true, then we have less than three years to go till the end


of the world, so you better start planning to see a big change in the


way things are. Time is ticking away and we will reach zero hour before


you know it.





The whole world is watching and wondering if this could really be the


day. Did the Mayans know something that we don't know? Could they have


been intelligent enough to figure out God's timetable? Could they be


right? The answer of course is that they could be right.





The world could end on December 21, 2012; at least for some of us. But


if it does it will be purely coincidental because I don't believe that


they were smart enough to figure God out; and according the Bible their


timetable is all wrong.





As Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives one day, teaching the crowd that


gathered to hear him, the disciples came to him and wanted to know what


the signs of the end would be.





Jesus gave them the signs but then said this in Matthew 24:36, "But of


that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my


Father only."





Matthew 25:13, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the


hour wherein the Son of man cometh."





From the words of Jesus it is clear that no man can predict the end of


the world; not even those wonderful Mayans. God is no respecter of


persons and he won't tell any man anything that he would hold in secret


for another. So I believe that we can disregard anything that some


ancient Mayan Calendar has to say about the end of the world. We need


to hear what the Word of God says instead.





The important thing to remember is that the end of the world as we know


it is coming, and for many of us the end of our days on this planet may


come long before the end of the world itself. Every day there are


thousands of people around the world whose world comes to an end. Their


days are ended and they will leave this world to face their eternal


reward.





We should not concern ourselves with any date that man may set for the


end of the world, for any date that we set; however we set it, is


against the Word of God. We don't need to worry about dates. We need to


be concerned with getting our hearts right with God and being ready all


the time; so that when the end comes for each of us, we will be ready


to meet the Lord.





Secondly, let me give you a brief rundown on what the timetable for the


end of the world is really like. Its all given to us in God's Word.





The next thing on the agenda of God's prophetic calendar concerning the


end of the world is something that we call "The Rapture of the Church."


The Bible doesn't say it's a "rapture." That word never appears. But


what the Bible does say is that there will be a great "catching away."





1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord himself shall descend from


heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the


trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which


are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the


clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the


Lord."





On that day, this world will come to an end for every Born Again,


washed in the Blood of Jesus, Child of God that has made themselves


ready for the coming of the Lord. That day could be today, tomorrow or


any day now. That's what we need to be watching for; the Rapture of the


Church and the Sound of the Trumpet as we are caught away to leave this


old sinful world behind. I don't know when that day or hour shall be,


but it could very well happen long before December 21, 2012. It could


happen on the very moment that the Mayans said, but if it does it will


be a one in a billion chance.





What about the real end of the world; when will that come? Again I say


that we cannot set a date, but we can see the signs of the end


happening all around us every day. God's Word concerning the signs of


these last days reads like our daily newspaper.





Matthew 24:32-33, "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch


is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:


So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is


near, even at the doors."





Just as we can walk outside early in the spring and see that the trees


have put on new leaves; and pollen fills the air, we know that spring


has come and that summer is just around the corner on our calendars; we


can also examine the daily news and know that the coming of the Lord is


upon us. Only someone who is blind; or refuses to see the truth; could


possibly be caught unaware. If you are watching for His coming; waiting


for His coming and ready for Jesus’ coming, then there's no


way that you are going to miss it.





The very first step in God's prophetic clock toward the end of time has


already taken place. That was the date in 1948 when Israel became a


nation once again after nearly 2000 years of being dispersed among the


Gentile nations.





The next tic of God's time clock will be the rapture of the church.


After that there will be a short period of time, perhaps a few days, or


a few months, just how long we don't know for sure; before the


Antichrist rises to power. From the time that he comes to power you can


set your clock because within the next 7 years it all comes crashing


down and the earth, as it is today is changed.





Jesus will come again, with the saints dressed in white and will


establish his 1000 year reign of peace on earth. The earth will be the


same except that peace and justice will prevail and the power of Satan


will be stopped for 1000 years.





At the end of that 1000 years, or the Mellennial Reign of Christ, then


comes the end when Satan will be loosed one last time to rally every


man on earth, who has not accepted Jesus as Lord, to fight against God


and his people. On that day, the world will truly come to an end and


God will create a new heaven and a new earth which will last forever.





So you see, this old world is going to be around for many years


according the Word of God. The Mayan Calendar prediction of 2012 is


nothing more than the foolishness of man trying to figure out God. We


have nothing to fear from 2012; no more than from any other year.





Should we prepare ourselves for 2012? Yes, but no more than we should


prepare ourselves at any other time. If you truly want to make Heaven


your home, you must make those preparations now and be ready all the


time. Jesus may come on any day, 2010. Are you ready to meet him should


He come today?





Never rely on anyone who sets a date for God's prophetic end of the


world to come. No man knows; and no man ever will. But we do know that


that day is coming soon. Make yourself ready; stay ready, then when


Jesus comes again you will begin your first day in a whole new world.


That's what really matters.





Do you know Jesus today? Do you know him as your Lord and Savior? Have


you been born again by the Spirit of God and had your sins washed away


by the Blood of Jesus? You can do that right now if you haven't, and


then you won't have to worry about 2012 or any other date. You can be


ready for the Second Coming of Jesus and the end of the world all of


the time. ]]> Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:10:48 -0230 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3454/whats-good-whats-evil https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/3454

James 1:13-18





We live in a world where what is good and what is evil are determined by

what suits us. We see it all around us. Our generation does evil and we

call it good and we avoid good as if it was evil. For example it's

almost impossible to find someone who will admit that they are evil. To

us we are almost always good! And what may be evil to you may be good

for me. No wonder this world is mixed up. Come Journey with me if you

will to the book of James.





In this passage, James straightens out some faulty thinking; he outlines

the truth about good and evil. These days some people are so mixed up

that they blame God for our flaws. They say, "I have imperfections and

weaknesses and God is to blame for them. After all, He made us - and so

He must have made us the way we are, with a tendency to do wrong things.

And didn't God put us in a world filled with temptations that I just

can't resist? It's God's fault that I'm a sinner," they say.





That kind of thinking is so worldly; it has nothing to do with the

Bible. We do wrong and we need someone to blame. Yes the blame does lie

with someone, but it's not God! To blame God for supposedly creating us

weak, and to blame Him for placing us in temptation's way is evidence of

how far we have drifted from the truth. It shows that we can't even

discern what's good and what's evil anymore.





The Bible says that the truth is the exact opposite of this kind of

thinking. James explains the truth about evil. "No one should say, 'God

is tempting me.' for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt

anyone" (James 1:13).





God is our loving heavenly father! All he wants is to give us love and

freedom, not to purposely trip us up. Jesus made this clear when he

said, Matt. 7:9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him

a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you,

then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your

children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to

those who ask him!





What Jesus is saying is that if we sinful human beings know how to give

good things; how much more does our holy and sinless God in heaven? God

doesn't enjoy seeing us trip up over sin. He loves us. He doesn't want

to see us torn down, He wants to give us good things that build us up.





James tells us that it's wrong for us to think that God tempts us

because our God is untemptable (v 13). What he means is that God can't

be persuaded to do evil and to tempt someone so as to trip them up and

corrupt them is an evil thing to do. But God is completely Holy so it's

just not in his nature to behave that way.





The whole idea that a god can tempt humans to do evil is not a Christian

concept. It comes from the ancient gods of Greece and Rome like Mars,

the god of violence, and Athena the goddess of war. Ancient people

believed that these gods interfered with human life in evil ways. But

it's not like that with the Christian God. The Christian God is

absolutely Holy and Righteous and there is no malicious intent in His

heart whatsoever.





God can't be persuaded to tempt us and we should be careful not to

accuse Him of doing so. So where does temptation come from? James

points out in v14 that, each one is tempted when, by his own evil

desire, he is dragged away and enticed.





Temptation comes from within us. Within all of us are evil desires that

are ready to express themselves in action. That's the thing with sin.

Sin takes us right to the heart of where we want to be. We have a desire

and we want it met. But it's not the meeting of that desire that is

sinful, but how that desire, that need is met.





Some people have tried to avoid sin by denying the basic human desires.

But that makes us something less than human, because it's not desire

itself that is sinful, but how we seek to have those desires met. Hunger

is not sinful, but gluttony is. Desiring to pass a test is not sinful,

but cheating is. Sleeping in is not sinful, but laziness is.





The basic desires of life are the fuel in the carburator that make the

engine go. If we turn off the fuel supply we have no power. If we let

the fuel go it's own way we have a mess, maybe a fire and destruction.

But the secret to success is to regulate the fuel supply through

constant control.





The secret to satisfying our natural human desires in a God honouring

way and without sin, is to regulate them; to keep them constantly under

God's control. To keep them Christ centered. Our desires must be His

servant not our master.





To do this we need to ask for Christ's strength and if we are His we

already have it within us through His Holy Spirit. But we also need to

be wise about how it is that we fall into sin.





A mistake that many Christians make is to think of sin as one single

act, or a series of single acts. James shows us that sin is a process.

First there is desire, and we've already spoken about that. Desire is

an attack on our emotions. "I'll be sad if I don't get what I want right

now." So we need to be self aware of our desires and the emotions that

they appeal to.





After desire comes deception. James writes in v14, "each one is tempted

when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed." The

enticement is the deception. Desire is an attack on our emotions, but

deception is an attack on our intellect. Deception is the blanket that

covers the true consequences of our actions. It's the bait that appeals

to our natural desires but in our minds it hides the end results. No

fish ever saw the hook inside the worm, if it did it wouldn't have taken

the bait.





It's the bait that's the exciting thing. It's the promise of immediate

satisfaction, but what we don't see are the delayed results. The way to

deal with deception, an attack on our intellect is through the word of

God. When Satan tempted Jesus, he always dealt with it by quoting

scripture. Jesus said, "It is written…" and reminded himself of the

truth of the word of God. From the human point of view, turning stones

into bread to satisfy His hunger would have been a sensible thing for

Jesus to do; but not from God's point of view.





And look at Eve. Satan said to her, "Did God really say that you

couldn't eat from the tree?" In the end the devil had her in such

confusion, she didn't know what God's precise word's had been. So we

need to know the bible so we can detect the bait and deal with it

accurately. The third step in the process of falling into sin is

disobedience. James writes in v15, "Then after desire has conceived, it

gives birth to sin (or disobedience)..."





Desire is an attack on our emotions, deception is an attack on our

intellect, but disobedience is an attack on our will; it's an attack on

the choices we make. You see, living as a Christian is about deciding

deliberately to live for Christ whether we feel like it or not. We read

our bible whether we feel like it or not. We pray whether we feel like

it or not. We share our faith whether we feel like it or not. We love

the unlovely whether we feel like it or not. These are choices we make.

Mature Christians make choices based on what is right, not on how they

feel.





The warning here is for us to be self aware about these things in us;

desire, deception, and disobedience, and as we see them in us we need to

recognize that we are in the danger zone and under attack. If we don't

we come to the final step in the process of sin which is death. Again

in v15 we read, and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.





It's not "a (single) sin" that James is talking about here, but the

collection of sins that make up a sinful life. "A sinful life, when it

is full grown, gives birth to death." What he's saying is that, unless

all of our sins are dealt with we can only expect death. We can expect

physical and on-going death. That's the place a person finds themselves

in, if they haven't yet trusted Christ. Death at the end of this life

and complete separation from God in the next.





But you know, I think it's possible for a Christian to experience

something like this too. If we are not careful with sin; if we don't

grow up out of our sinful habits I think there's room for us to say we

may experience a death of some kind.





For example, unless we deal with sin in the way we relate to others, I

think we can expect to experience the death of relationships. A

friendship or even a marriage. If we don't deal with sin in our attitude

to finance, we could experience the death of a business or at least the

death of prosperity.





The point of all this is that whenever we're faced with temptation, we

need to get our eyes off the bait and look ahead to see the consequences

of sin. This is the truth about evil. So what is the truth about good?

This is what James has to say.





1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the

Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting

shadows. 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that

we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.





What we see here is that a Christian concept of God is exactly the

opposite of the malicious god that some people think would try to tempt,

trick and destroy us. God doesn't instigate our destruction. He

doesn't want us to be ruined. He's the great Giver of everything good.

"Every good gift comes down from the Father."





Think of all the good things we enjoy. Every one of them come from God

and think of all the better things that we could enjoy if God had His

way in our lives more and more.





James points out that God takes care of even the simplest things. He is

the Creator of the sun the moon and the stars, the heavenly lights and

by them the seasons. They each bring good things to life but even these

fail us sometimes. But not God. He never changes. He is always giving

good and perfect things to us.





This beautiful world was not made by God to trip us up and lead us into

sin. It was made and given to us to enjoy and appreciate and to use for

good. We can't blame God for our sin saying that He put us here and made

me with shortcomings, it just isn't true.





All things that come from God are good, but there's one that stands out

from all the rest. James tells us in v18 that our loving heavenly

Father, chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might

be a kind of first fruits of all He created.





The highest good is the new birth that God provides. In the process of

becoming a Christian God reconstructs us as new people through Jesus

Christ. He gives us a new life. What a contrast to the death that sin

results in. Death is the outcome of evil desires. Life the outcome of

God deliberately choosing us.





And the way He brings new life to us is "through the word of

truth," says James; that is, the message that Jesus spoke and which is

recorded for us in the Bible.





It's an unusual concept, but Jesus Himself is that word of truth. Jesus

is God's message to us. Maybe we need to correct some inaccurate

thinking. Are we guilty of smearing God's reputation, accusing Him of

leading us into sin? He's not a fault-finder who wants to make life

difficult for us. Make no mistake about it, He is the giver, and the

only giver, of everything good even the greatest good which is new life

in His eternal family.


Have you received new life through hearing and accepting Jesus, the word

of truth? Have you come to that point where you've said "Jesus, I am a

sinner. Please forgive me my sins. I believe you are the Son of God,

the sacrifice for my sin, and the risen Lord"]]> Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:15:23 -0330 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/2991/another-chance https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/2991 Isaiah 29:13-16 John 4:1-26
Have you ever been in a situation in which you really wanted something to work out but it didn't, and you felt like, if I just had another chance I know I could make this thing work right? Well sometimes, another chance is just what we need, but there are other times, when we need something more than just another chance. Sometimes we need a change.
Come journey with me as we meet Lisa. Lisa is a very attractive young lady. It appears she has just about everything going her way. What the girls wouldn't give to have her beautiful eyes, her gorgeous hair, etc. Lisa' voice seemed as though it could melt the guys heart, and if she asked them to do something, they were eager to do it. What guy wouldn't want to be with Lisa. As soon as she was old enough to get married, the proposals were streaming her way.
One day Robert descends into her life. Lisa is sure, this is the man of her dreams. They get married. It's a disaster. There's a divorce. Lisa is determined not to make that mistake again. James comes upon the scene. He promises her the world. She goes for it. For the second time she walks the aisle. It doesn't work out. She finds herself divorced again.
Then there was Reggie. Good looking and sweet talking Reggie. Lisa decides to walk the aisle again. The family members, are saying, "why is that girl getting married again?" The wedding takes place. Something happens during the marriage,and Reggie is history.
Everybody was saying, three strikes and you're out. But then when John came into town and saw Lisa. He knew he had to have that good looking woman. Lisa's hoping this is going to be it for a lifetime. They get married. It too doesn't work out. This fourth husband is now gone.
Lisa decided if she got just one more chance, she would be in a marriage that would last the rest of her life. When David came a calling, she took her time with him. All the women were already talking about her, putting her down, and hating on her. She had gone through more husbands, than many of them had boyfriends. She agreed to marry David. It started well, but whatever it was that led to the collapse of the earlier marriages, led to the downfall of this one.
After five husbands, Lisa decides, that's it. I'm not going to get married again. But then Ronald shows up. Ronald's not interested in getting married. He does not want to be tied down. He's just looking for a woman to meet his needs as he calls them. Lisa decides to move in with Ronald. They're just living together. Lisa is the gossip in her little town of Sychar. The other women do not want her around them and they certainly do not want her around their men. What do you think God thinks of Lisa's behavior? What do you think God thinks of Lisa?
Now we find Jesus about to make a journey from the southern part of the country Judea, to the northern part of the country Galilee.
Verse 4 says: John 4:4 "Now he had to go through Samaria." Let me give you some background on Samaria. When Israel was split into nations after King Solomon, you had the nations of Israel in the north and Judah in the south. All the people were still called Jews in each nation.
The Jews of Israel in the north were quick to disobey God, and God used the nation of Assyria to defeat them in battle. The king of Assyria, moved most of the people out of the country of Israel and settled them in a far away lands. He took people from far away lands and settled them in the country of Israel.
Now these people came into Israel with their own gods. But they started to intermarry with some of the Jews who had not been sent away. The Jews were not suppose to intermarry with foreigners, but they did anyways. The people who were the result of the intermarriages, eventually became Samaritans, because that part of the country was called Samaria.
A hatred and hostility developed between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Jews saw the Samaritans as outside of the promises of God because they were half-breeds in their eyes. The Samaritans despised the Jews for always putting them down. This hatred grew so strong, that they stopped having anything to do with each other. It was racial prejudice at its worse. A good Jew would not even travel though Samaria to get home. He would take the longer route of crossing the Jordan River to the east, and go down through Perea, and then cross the river again to get back on course.
Now Jesus is having some huge meetings with the crowds. The large groups that use to run after John the Baptist are coming after Jesus. But we see that Jesus left the crowd, because He had to go through Samaria. Jesus went to a town called Sychar. There was a piece of land there, that a few thousand years earlier, Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Now Jacob was the father of the 12 children who had become the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph was the guy who almost became ruler of Egypt. So this piece of land was sort of like a holy site in the mind of the people living there.
There was a well on the land, called Jacob's well. This well was very important to the Samaritans, because it was their proof, that they could trace their history back to Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham, who was the father of the Jewish nation. Now Jesus had reached this parcel of land with Jacob's well on it. He was tired because he'd been traveling for two days. He had sent the disciples ahead into the city to buy some food. Maybe they were going to have a picnic near the well when he got back.
This passage shows us that Jesus was human and God at the same time. As a human being, Jesus had grown tired and weary from the long journey. It was noontime, which means it was the hottest part of the day. Jesus was sitting there by the well, but there wasn't a bucket nearby so even though he was near water, he couldn't get a drink.
You do recall Lisa. Lisa, is a Samaritan who lives in the city of Sychar. Things were not going that well between Lisa and Ronald. I can imagine her praying, God, would you please give me another chance to get my life back on track. She is on her way to Jacob's well to get her water for the day. Since she is the source of a lot of gossip, she tries to go to the well when she knows there would not be a lot of others around.
As she approaches the well, she sees there is a man there, and not just a man, but a Jewish man. She figures she has nothing to lose, because no Jewish man would talk to her anyways. So she goes to the well, ignores the man sitting beside it, and drops her bucket.
Jesus sees this Samaritan woman, going about her business as if He wasn't there. Jesus then does one of the most radical things He has done in His entire ministry. He speaks to this woman. He says to her. "Will you give me a drink?" Lisa, cannot believe this Jewish stranger spoke to her. In shock and disbelief she responds, "Man you are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman, How can you ask me for a drink."
Lisa is letting Jesus know He is out of line on three issues. First, a Jew would not speak to a Samaritan, second a Jewish male would not speak to a Samaritan woman, and third a Jew would not drink from a Samaritan's cup. How many of you know today, God is not impressed or depressed because of who you are, what your sex is, or what you might have to offer him. Jesus came into the world to save those whom God loves. Lisa was at a stage in her life where she had voluntary reduced herself to the status of prostitute by living with Ronald.
And yet God wanted to give her another chance. It's amazing that out of all the thousands Jesus had been ministering to, God said, He had to go through Samaria. The reason Jesus had to go, was Lisa. God wanted to reach a woman that nobody else wanted anything to do with.
Have you ever thought about, some of the unloving or unpopular people that come into your life, may be there because God sent you to have contact with them? Are you willing to be like Jesus to them and at least speak and affirm their presence, even though they do not affirm yours? Do you have any idea of what God has been willing to do, to try to give you another chance?
Jesus did not try to debate her on the Jewish/Samaritan conflict. Instead He begins to educate her on Him. We begin to see not only the human side of Jesus, but the fact that Jesus is also fully God. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:10
Jesus is letting us know, He can offer to us far more than we could ever offer or give to Him. When you come to know Christ, the reward that you gain is far greater than the sacrifice you will have to make. But it has to be done on God's terms.
Lisa has heard too many lines from too many men to be impressed by what Jesus has to say. She takes one look at Him, and said, "buddy, you don't even have a cup to get yourself a drink of water. Where are you going to get this living water. Are you greater than our religious leader Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself? When we look at Jesus from simply a human perspective, we are tempted to think, there's not a thing Jesus can do for me. It is only when we look at Jesus with the eyes of faith that we can receive what He has for us.
Jesus says, "Look, this water here that you all drink, is fine, but after you drink it, you will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I give will never thirst again. Indeed the water I give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
That sounded real good to Lisa. To be able to get water without having to come all the way out of town to avoid the gossip of others sounded mighty good. Lisa is still thinking of Jesus as only a man. Jesus is talking about the Spirit of God coming into a person's life, but Lisa's mind is on water.
Jesus is letting us know that whatever we crave for in life, does not really satisfy us even when we think we have it. As human beings we crave for love, food, sex, security, money and approval. Even when we get these things, they do not give complete satisfaction. We simply thirst again.
Lisa tells Jesus, "Sir give me this water so that I don't have to come again." If Jesus would just give her what she wanted, she would not care about ever having to see Jesus again. Let me ask you this. When you ask God for another chance: Is that chance going to lead to a more faithful walk with God, or will you just be content with whatever it is you want from God?
You know God has a way of exposing ourselves to ourselves. Jesus is about to reveal to Lisa, that He is God. I can see Jesus smiling as He tells Lisa, "Go call your husband and come back." Now if you were Lisa, how would you respond to this request.
I thought for a moment, Lisa falls back into her old nature. She's thinking, "all of this talk from this man was to find out if I was married or not." Well she still has the good looks, and the relationship with Ronald was going bad. She doesn't know who this Jewish guy is, but she kind of likes what she has seen of him so far. I can imagine her shifting her voice, into that seduction tone, that seems to mesmerize men and her eyes batting as only you women can do. I can hear her saying, "I have no husband."
But Jesus immediately puts her back in check, by saying to her John in 4:17-18 Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
Now how would you have felt, if you were trying to lay a line on some stranger and the stranger immediately exposed your past major failures in life and your current list of sinful activities? How many of you would have turned and ran in the opposite direction? How many of you would have changed the subject?
She immediately recognizes that Jesus is a man unlike any other man she has ever known. In her embarrassment, she re-evaluates the situation. She says, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet, now our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." She wants to get off the subject of her and her sin as quickly as possible and turn this thing into a debate about worship.
Isn't it interesting how Lisa knows about the teachings of God, but she will not let teachings affect her lifestyle. She's trying to be in a relationship with God, while at the same time compromising with sin. But you know something even more amazing, is that God in His mercy still is going to give her another chance to turn her life around before its too late.
When you look at prostitutes, or addicts, or thieves, or thugs, or the person who may seem to have it altogether, don't ever think there's no way God can be at work in their lives. If God was at work in us before we got saved, how come God cannot be at work in others?
Now Moses had told the children of Israel, when they went into the promised land, they were to gather on Mount Gerazim and proclaim God's blessings in Deuteronomy 11:26-29. But when David became King, Jerusalem was chosen as the place where God was to be worshipped at the temple. This was another cause of the friction and tension between Jews and Samaritans.
Let's look at John 4:21-24 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
Jesus says look, "the Jews and the Samaritans have both missed God on this issue. First, it's not the place that God is interested in when it comes to worship. Second you have to know what you are worshipping. Third, genuine salvation is only coming through the promises made to the Jews. Fourth the hour is already here for those who want to worship the true God in spirit and truth."
God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. To worship God in spirit means to worship God on the inside of you. We can clap our hands, dance, and sing praises, but fail to worship God if the inside of us is not involved. Worship involves cleansing out the inside of our lives to prepare us to receive the Spirit God within us with a type of oneness.
Worship begins with the prayer, "search me oh God and know my thoughts, and show to me what is blocking my spirit from uniting with you." As long as we allow unconfessed sin to dwell freely in us, worship of God can not take place in our spirit. We sing the song, Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary. The preparation is a cleansing process.
Lord forgive me for how I treated my parents, my kids, my spouse. Lord forgive me for doing, for saying, for acting, for thinking,. Lord give me another chance to be what you want me to be. Now, Lord let my spirit enter in with your Spirit that I might worship you. Once the spirit is activated, the soul engages the body into the outward forms for worship.
There is no worship apart from truth. Our worship must be genuine in the way God has called us to worship. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Without Jesus Christ, our worship of God is always going to fall short and be incomplete. Like the Samaritans, we will be attempting to worship what we do not know. Our life of worship begins with the truth of knowing who Jesus Christ is. If we have the Son, we have the Father. If we do not have the Son, then we do not have the Father.
When Jesus spoke of a day coming, Lisa responded, "I know that when Christ, the Messiah comes, He will explain everything to us." Jesus did something He rarely does in the bible. He comes right out and tells her. "I who speak to you am He." Why of all the people, does Jesus reveal to a woman whose living the life of a prostitute, that He is the Christ, the Messiah? Because He wants us to know, that none of us are beneath His love and His concern in wanting to give us another chance.
Whereas the world looked and saw a prostitute, God looked and saw one of the great evangelist He had called. This woman went and turned a city upside down for God. Many of the people believed in Jesus because of her testimony about Him. She knew what it was to begin to worship God in Spirit and in truth. What will happen in our lives, when we discover who Jesus truly is and what a difference He wants to make in using us?
Now to those who may question, the names have been changed to protect the innocent. In other words I gave the names to make it more personal for it is not mentioned who they are except what was mentioned in God's word as the Samaritan Woman or woman at the well who has been married 5 times and living with one.]]> Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:35:40 -0330 https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/2345/the-voice-of-god https://indiegospel.net/pastor-dan/blog/2345 Sat, 10 Nov 2012 13:50:14 -0330