Remember
I know most everyone is getting ready for Christmas day. I just wanted to remind folks out there that just because it may be a time of celebration for many, doesn’t mean that it is a time of celebration for everyone. There are those around us who are spending their first holiday away from their spouses that they are separated from. There are those who are spending their first Christmas without a loved one they may have lost to death. There are those who have no family around, or could not afford to go see family.
This is a perfect time and season, to invite these people into your homes, into your celebration, to show them the love of Christ. I know personally how hard it is to be alone on Christmas. It was one of the worst times of my life! Remember that there are those who are alone this Christmas season. Don’t be too busy to remember the Great Commission and be the Jesus that people so desperately need this time of the year.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before 2008
- 1) What do I believe God to do in my life in the next year?
- 2) What am I going to do in the coming year to prepare for what I believe for until it comes about?
- 3) How am I going to serve God and others in my church this coming year?
- 4) What am I going to do to bring others to know Christ in the coming year?
These are very important questions to ask yourself now. I know that everyone is busy with Christmas shopping and parties and family gatherings, but these are very important questions to ask yourself and start writing down these ideas.
What are you believing God for this year? What do you want God to do in your life, your job, your church in 2008? How are you going to be an active participant in seeing these things come to life in 2008? If you are just sitting, expecting something to happen, you may be waiting another year. I don’t want to see that happen to anyone (including myself) have to go through the same stuff that I am facing this year. How are you actively going to go after the blessing? Have you made a prayer plan of attack? You may ask what a prayer plan of attack is. It’s a list of things or one thing that you are going to commit to praying for on a consistent basis. This is a list that you can keep somewhere before you to remind you to pray for these things. Persistence is a key to seeing your prayers answered. Why wouldn’t we want to remind God of the things that are important to us?
Have you started thinking about things that you would be able to do in your church to help? What are your gifts and talents? How can we use those abilities to further the kingdom of God? You may not want to make a commitment to do something every Sunday, but what about every other Sunday? What about once a month at the very least?! If you can’t give an hour or two a month for the local body that is pouring into your life, you are missing the blessing of your life! If you take care of God’s house, don’t you think that God will take of yours? Don’t you think that it’s possible your selfishness could be holding back God’s blessing in your life? Think about it! It doesn’t take much to say good morning and greet folks walking into the church. You never know what a difference your service will make in someone’s life or how God may bless you for your obedience!
The last question is the most important question of the four. How do I influence others to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? There are so many ways to do this. There are more articles, books, and strategies for this. Many times we miss the most important way to do this and that is to live as an example of the love, integrity, and selflessness of Christ. When the boss is not at work, making sure things get done that would get done normally. When you have an opportunity to get away with something at home or work, admit your mistakes and do what you can to correct them. Be humble, don’t come across as you are better than others. Hold doors open for folks. Don’t cut people off in traffic. Do something nice for someone that is not nice to you. I know this is deep stuff here. Paul spoke in Corinthians that he would love to teach them the “deeper” things of God, but they could not get the basics down. When you have a revelation of His love for you, these things will become second nature. Many “Christians” need to return to the cross or come to the cross for the first time and be washed in His blood and His all consuming love! We need to lay down our preconceived notions of who He is and say “Show me who you are!” Christ said the Holy Spirit would give us the power to be witnesses (Acts 1:8). Let us influence the world around us instead of it influencing us!
My prayer is that everyone who reads this will have the best New Year ever. Let’s enter it proactive and confident of the great things that God has in store for us!
PS: This is NOT my last blog for the year. Please keep checking back. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read these. They truly come from my heart. Thanks.
Unmet Expectations
Genesis 4 (Amplified Bible)
3) And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. 4) And Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat portions. And the Lord had respect and regard for Abel and for his offering,(A) 5) But for [a]Cain and his offering He had no respect or regard. So Cain was exceedingly angry and indignant, and he looked sad and depressed. 6) And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why do you look sad and depressed and dejected? 7) If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.
This post is a tough one. It’s tough because you have to really look inside yourself. I truly believe that this is an issue that has to be brought into the light of truth and laid bare for what it is: wrong.
The issue of unmet expectations destroys individuals, families, churches, businesses. It twists and corrupts that which was meant for good and deeply plants the root of bitterness in our hearts. The employee that works hard but doesn’t get the raise, the wife that expected Prince Charming and got a man who isn’t quite ready to “grow up” yet, the Believer that expected God to do something a certain way and it didn’t quite work out that way or not at all, the churchgoer that has worked hard in the church for many years believing he would be promoted gets passed up by the “next best thing” or someone with “more education”.
These are real situations that people face every day but do not usually confront in our hearts. We allow the bitter seed of disappointment to take root and choke the life of the dream, purpose, vision, blessing, healing, and triumph that God wants so badly to bring us. I too am guilty of having fallen victim of the unmet expectations and the bitterness of its fruit. If only we learn everything the first time, huh? Many who may read this post may be suffering from the bitterness of unmet expectations. God has brought to light this hidden, stealthy enemy! He wants you to be free and stay free!
Unmet expectations are usually expectations that we put on others or an expectation that we have had communicated to us by someone else. Let us address the expectations we put on others without communication first. “Feelings” can sometimes be deceitful. We feel like things should be a certain way due to the way we see things. Unfortunately, more often than not, things are not the way we think they should be. There are some preachers/teachers who teach that every Christian should be rich, and have the ability to be rich. The reality of the matter is that most are not, and if everyone was, how would we reach the poor? If we were meant to live the “good” life, than how can we ever know what Christ had to suffer? This is just one example. We should have faith and believe that God wants to bless us. This does not mean we are called to be millionaires. You may feel like you are called to preach, but if you can’t hold a conversation with someone, it will make things difficult to communicate with 20, 100, or even thousands without a lot of coaching and training. I know God can do miracles but if you are not willing to open your mouth and talk, then you are limiting God’s ability to work in your life and bring that calling out. Let’s talk about expectations we receive from others. I think these can, and usually do, hurt the most.
We live in a world that rarely folks keep their word. People say “I’ll call you”, “I’ll pray for you”, “I will be there” and if they call, pray, or show up, it is rare. This is no different in the church. I don’t care if you are a lay person or full time minister, the results can sometimes be the same. How do you deal with the hurt of an unkept promise? How do we deal with the disappointment? How do we move forward from the point of the offense or the outright lie? That, my friends, is the question. The first things we must realize is that in and of ourselves, there is no good thing. Even one of the greatest apostles states: (Romans 7:18) For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.] Now, this is no excuse for people to not keep their word, and I am not condoning anyone not keeping their word. I am just pointing out that if one of the greatest apostles admitted that he has failed, don’t you think that other people might fail too? I know that the initial reaction when someone wrongs us or fails us is to get angry, upset, get depressed, (or just fill in how you process your pain). I have found over the years that keeping in mind that people are not perfect, when they promise you something, will help keep things from stinging so much in the future if they let you down. God is the only one who is true to His promises. I feel awful that there are folks who will never grasp this and will waste years of their life being hurt by something that happened years ago. It’s time to LET IT GO!
The second thing we must realize is that there is a reason everything happens, whether it is good or bad. It is hard to see the big picture sometimes. God has perfect timing in everything He does. When I was 17 years old, I felt the call of God on my life to be a pastor in a church or pastor of my own church. I thought things would happen very quickly and I would be in fulltime ministry within a couple of years. Well, that was almost 18 years ago. I have had the chance to help and work in various ministries in different churches. The experiences I have had through those years have helped me to get a perspective and wisdom that a young man of 17 would never have had. I still don’t have a title of “pastor”, but I have the privilege of serving in the greatest church I have ever been in. I am excited to be a part of what God is doing in our sphere of influence. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. I know my destiny. What a disaster it would have been if things happened in my timetable! The lives I may have ruined because of my lack of wisdom! I thank God He doesn’t always give us what we want! We may want something really bad, but if we got it, it would probably destroy us. We have to walk our lives in an attitude of faith that God is in control of our lives. We have to believe that He holds us in the palm of His hand. We have to understand that God is God and we are not! We may think we know better or when or where or how things should be but we don’t. If our faith is truly in Christ, we will face disappointments, but we won’t be devastated when our expectations aren’t met.
Faith
Hi Everyone. I shared on Faith last Wednesday at Life group. Here is my notes.
Faith
This is a hard topic for me and I think that it’s a hard topic for most folks; the subject of faith. We are in a time in history where more than ever we need faith. We are faced with many situations that demand that we have faith in God. Economically, we have a weakening dollar, rising oil prices and companies cutting back jobs which allows other employers to underpay folks that are working. On the health front, we have contaminated food, contaminated toys and mutating diseases and viruses that no longer respond to the prescribed treatments that used to take care of them. On a social front, we have people who are becoming more hermitized due to the internet and text messaging and more cases of road rage, abuse, murder and children being victimized by perverts because of our lack of any social or people skills. We no longer know how to function communicating with a person standing in front of us and our frustration is making people do things that they would most likely not do if they actually had to interact with society on a daily basis. We have created internet societies where the worst behavior of humanity is condoned and is allowed to flourish. With these type of things going on now, in the world we live in, we need a firm, solid faith in Christ to weather the storm that rages around us.
Let me make it clear that I am not speaking from a place of having “got it”. I have serious issues and things that I am facing in my own daily life that even if you don’t get something out of this, I NEED TO HEAR IT. (Matt 17:14-20)” If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move mountains”. I have heard this scripture quoted a million times when it comes to faith. I have asked the question” I believe that God can get me out of my mess, but why doesn’t He?”
1) Persistence (Luke 11:5-13) (John 5:1-9) In these two examples we see two different people in two different situations, in two different needs. The quality that brought their stories together: persistence. They knew where they could find what they needed. They knew what it would take to get what they wanted, both waited and persistently kept trying to get what they needed till they received what they needed. Do you think that the man at the pool would have received the healing if he hadn’t caught the eye of Jesus? He was there every day for 38 years! His persistence caught the eye of the Healer Himself and he was made well! The man who needed bread knew who to ask and kept asking till he got the man out of bed and he gave him what he wanted! How often do we pray for something and a week later we no longer pray for that thing. How often do we give into despair and just settle for things “being this way”? When is enough going to be enough and we finally get a bur in our butt to attack this thing until we see what we are praying for? Persistence is a key to this.
2) Timing (Ecc 3:1)(Isa 49:8) Timing has to be one of the questions we face as believers. We believe that God is going to heal us, but when? We believe that God wants to prosper us but when? The scriptures tell us that there are appointed times and places for God to move. There were times when the people of God in the Old Testament did not hear or see God do anything for generations! God allowed the Israelites to be slaves of the Egyptians for 430 years! For 430 years God allowed them to be slaves of the Egyptians. I believe that if they had cried out to the Lord sooner they may have been released from their bondage! Is that not like us? We just get used to things being the way they are! We stop believing that God wants better for us! We assume that this is how it will always be. When God says “Its Time”, you better be ready for God to do something! We have to be before the face of God to understand what He is doing and if we don’t know what He is doing, how can we be properly be prepared for the blessing, the healing, the breakthrough we have been praying for, for so long?
3) Seeking First His Kingdom(Prov 3:1-6)( Gal 6:7-10) We must look forward to go forward. If you don’t look at where you are driving, you could end up in a ditch or worse! (Heb 12:1-2) If we are focused on where we are, we will never get where we want to go! I know that if I don’t get involved with what God is doing in His house, and help meet the needs of the church and those in the church, I cannot expect God to suddenly take care of mine! If I don’t get my eyes off me and focus them on Christ and what He wants to do in my life, things are not going to miraculously change! We have seek Him! Ask Him to reveal His will for our lives and do what He tells us we should be doing and we can go before God in confidence when we have a need that God will take care of it. If we are being disobedient to the call of God on our lives, how can He bless us the way we really want to be blessed? I know have not always been obedient and He provided, but how much more can He bless us when we are walking according to His will for our lives!
