01/13/17 - Matt 10

Jan 13, 2017 – Matt 10

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.   Matt 10:39

Don't fall in love with life, fall in love with the God who gives us life.

The term is ‘sugar daddy’.  I always thought that was a type of candy bar, until someone educated me on the real meaning of the term.  To my surprise, there were some people who were willing to date or marry someone far older for money & material possessions.  Apparently, there were a few women in the world that married for money.  (I knew you would be shocked to hear that too!). 

Surprisingly, it’s not just a few women.  There are many people who are married for what they get out of the relationship.  There are men who love what their wife provides more than they love their wife.  There are also many women who care more about what their husband does for them instead of what they can do for their husband.  The transaction may not even be about money and sex.  Some love the false sense of security they receive.  Others simply like having help for running the house, or someone to do life’s activities with.  Many times, you see people who are more in love with what the relationship gives them than the person themselves.

Jesus sees through all of that.  He is not interested in being our “Sugar Daddy”.   Jesus wants us to love Him for who he is, not just for what He does.  Jesus wants a true love relationship.  If you’re looking for God to make your life happy, then you’re missing the relationship He is looking for.  That’s why Jesus shares one of the strongest statements in the Bible to all people:  “If you’re looking for your life on earth, you’ll lose it.  But if you’re looking for me, you’ll find me AND find life.” 

Don’t fall in love with what life offers.  Fall in love with the God who gave you life.  Finding a relationship with God will not only help you discover His design for your life, it will lead you to find life for eternity.  You can’t have both.  You have to choose which life you’re living for – the stuff God gives or the God who gives it.

01/12/17 - Matt 9

Jan 12, 2017 – Matt 9

Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field."   Matt 9:38

Instead of asking God for results, ask Him for the opportunity to serve.

Jesus is walking again with his disciples.  He’s been moving from town to town, healing people and preaching the message, inviting Matthew to join the group, and demonstrating his authority.  But the more work Jesus does, the more needs Jesus notices.  Not only are the crowds growing, the burden is growing as well. 

So Jesus does what the greatest leaders always do … He empowers others to take on the work with Him.  That would be a challenge for any organization leader because of the gap in skillset between the lead person and staff.   How much more of a gap would there be between Jesus & his disciples!  If you were worried about the results, you wouldn’t send these guys, you would send Jesus.  But results are not the first priority for Jesus.  Jesus doesn’t focus on the results, He focuses on the opportunities.  He tells the boys to pray for more workers, not for more results.  Jesus knows if you pray for more workers, then you will get more results.

This is a huge lesson for our prayer lives!  So often, our prayers are about results.  We pray for answers to health issues, relationship problems, financial needs, and personal desires.  The prayer list of a typical church is mostly about the harvest.  But that’s not what Jesus instructed us to pray for.  Certainly, those are all valid issues, and asking God for them is not wrong.  Jesus suggests a better approach to our prayers.  Don’t pray for the harvest … it’s already plentiful.  Pray for more workers … that’s where the need really lies!

Instead of praying for more days of life for your loved ones, pray for more life in their days.

Instead of praying for more out of your relationships, pray for more energy to invest in them.

Instead of praying for an increase in your finances, pray for God’s hand on how you manage them.

Instead of praying for family or friends to know Jesus, pray for more people to share Jesus with them.

Don’t just pray for the harvest.  God is already Lord of that.  Pray for more opportunities to support God’s harvest!  Pray for God to use you and many others, so that the results can happen.  Remember, it’s God’s Field already!  We don’t need more results … we need to leverage our opportunities.  Don’t worry about the results, ask Jesus for more chances to serve.

01/11/17 - Matt 8

Jan 11, 2017 – Matt 8

Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."   Matt 8:22

Don’t let worldly responsibilities distract us from following Jesus.

Time may not be our friend, but it is definitely not our excuse.

Often, we are quick to blame our busy schedule for not having ‘time’ to do the things we know we should.  We tell God we don’t have enough time to read His Word.  We excuse ourselves from serving God’s Church family because we can’t schedule the ‘time’.  Simple chores don’t get finished because we ran out of ‘time’.  It’s as if we keep chasing ‘time’, and it’s always running away from us, like a cat chasing a tail!

The problem with busy lives is that some people find the time to do those things anyways!  There are some people (and not just pastors), who take ‘time’ to read the Word of God daily.  There are many others who support God’s Kingdom by serving His Church with their ‘time’.  Many are able to juggle busy lives and still find the ‘time’ to perform their daily chores.

Jesus is traveling with his disciples, and He notices a potential leader worthy of getting involved in the ministry.  So Jesus makes the man an offer to join them in the work, and the man says “I’m busy with family obligations and can’t go yet.  Maybe after I take care of my father’s estate and get the business set up properly, and have everything taken care of in my life, THEN I will have enough time for you Jesus.”  Jesus’ response was thought-provoking:  “Follow me, and let the dead bury the dead”. 

The fact is that EVERYONE has been gifted with the same amount of time.  We each receive 24 hours every day to choose how to use, and have the ability to accomplish the same things with it.  Our time is not the problem, it’s our choices that prevents us from doing the things we should.  We have the choice of using our daily time for Eternal Life-Giving activities, or use it for death-giving ones.   The truth is, we have enough time, we are just filling our time with the wrong choices.

How tragic that we use ‘time’ to excuse our lack of discipline and devotion to Jesus.  Is there anything more worthy of our time than knowing God?  Is our Savior not important enough to offer some of our precious time? 

Look at your schedule this week.  What needs changed, so that you have some time for Jesus every day?  CHOOSE to make some changes in your ‘time’, so that you can follow the Giver of Life.

01/10/17 - Matt 7

Jan 10, 2017 – Matt 7

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.   Matt 7:21

It doesn't matter how good we think we are, what matters is how obedient God thinks we are.

Some people may find this strange, but I have never been bothered by attending funerals or showing up at a visitation.  I find those moments to be some of the best at connecting with people on a deeper level, and being a caring friend or family member.  As a pastor now, I find true what many other pastors have told me: they would rather perform a funeral than a wedding.  Not that weddings are bad, but the importance of ministry at a funeral can plant seeds and be life-changing unlike any other setting.

However, one of the difficult things at a funeral is struggle some have finding reasons to believe their loved one is in heaven.  When the deceased didn’t live like a believer, people default to “the list” (that list of good things they did, or things they liked about the person).  The list of good deeds is wide & varied.  Here’s some examples of good deeds that earned a loved one’s entry to heaven:

-          He made us laugh

-          She was always taking care of us kids

-          He played (you name the sport) and was part of the championship with us

-          He gave me money when (you name the need)

-          He was good to his pet dog

-          She was a good friend

-          She/He was a good person

-          He didn’t pray much, but kept a copy of a prayer I gave him

-          She didn’t attend church, but helped with the local charity

All of those things can be good memories to hold on to when people die, but our longing to know they live forever in eternity somehow twists them into reasons for wanting to belief they were saved.  Jesus made it perfectly clear that Salvation is not based on works, salvation is based on accepting His death and living for Him.  It’s a relationship with Jesus that is demonstrated in our works.

Jesus gives us a clear warning.  Don’t base your security of salvation on your works, base it on obedience.  Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind & strength?  Is that love being demonstrated by your care for other people?  Are you producing fruits of the spirit in your life?  Is your life becoming more like the image of Christ?  Just because you say a formula of words, or do something good for another doesn’t qualify you for eternity in heaven.  Your entry is through a relationship with Jesus.

Don’t leave your loved ones in a quandary, trying to desperately come up with enough good things you did to make their hearts have peace about your eternity.  Start your life walk with Jesus, and leave no doubt that you continue to walk with Him in heaven.  It makes the funeral much less difficult.

01/09/17 - Matt 6

Jan 9, 2017 – Matt 6

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt 6:34

Worrying about tomorrow wastes the time we could get things done today.

It is said that the only creature who thinks about tomorrow is the human being.  While planning and preparing can work to our advantage, worry & anxiety about tomorrow doesn’t.  Some doctors claim that the root of many of our illnesses is associated with worry.  Yet humans treat worry like it is their God-given right and responsibility.  We hold on to our worries like they are our friends, and think that holding them will make them never happen.

Worry is a deadly sin.  It’s associated with pride, at the top of the list of God’s most hated behaviors, and is a form of idolatry of the mind.  By worrying, we place more trust in our own abilities than in God’s.  Jesus did not give us a formula for managing worry, He told us to get rid of it… to stop doing it.  But in His prescription about worry, Jesus gave us a clear instruction on how to push worry out of our lives --- stop focusing on tomorrow and start doing what you are supposed to do today.

Worry is a thief that steals time.  It bankrupts my day and robs me of energy for today’s tasks, pushing more tasks onto tomorrow.  So by worrying, I am actually creating the circumstances that worry me.  Here are some examples:

-          The dad who is spends time worrying about finances and works too much, creating health issues that send him to the hospital where the medical bills damage his finances.

-          The mom who worries about her kids so much that she overprotects them from lessons today, which leads them to experiment and rebel later in life, creating the consequences she worried about.

-          The boss who worries about employees leaving, creating unrest in the environment that makes their employees want to leave.

-          The student who worries about their grades so much that it affects their thinking, and they tense up on a test instead of simply answering what they already knew.

-          The person who is so worried about their retirement plan, that they miss the direction of God and bypass God’s way of taking care of them in their later years (let alone missing out on a saving relationship with Jesus).

There’s no diet or exercise plan to manage your worries, and you can’t straddle the fence on them.   To end worry in your life means trusting God with your tomorrows and focusing your energy on what needs done today.  STOP WORRYING.  Kick that thief out of your house.  It’s killing you.  Just make the best of what you have today.  And celebrate the joy of what you accomplished today.

01/06/17 - Matt 5

Jan 6, 2017 - Matt 5

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matt 5:6

The Answer for a full life is not in activity, but in righteousness.

Imagine you walked into your favorite coffee shop, and ordered a vente coffee of your favorite variety.  Paying the charge, you wait expectantly for your go-go juice, and in a few minutes the barista calls you up to receive your cup.  You start to take a sip and notice something wrong – the cup feels light, and nothing is coming out.  Instead of coffee, it’s just a vente cup.  Pretty cup, with a heat shield, and quality lid… but no coffee.  You ask the barista to fill the cup, and they apologize immediately, then fill the cup and bring it back to you.  This time you open it and discover it wasn’t filled with hot coffee, but lukewarm tap water!   What is up with that!?!  This would not be a place you visited ever again.

Emptiness is defeat.  When something was created to be filled, it loses purpose when it’s empty.  Ask any coffee drinker when the pot is empty, or the race car driver when the tank is running on fumes, or the soul when it feels lonely.  And filling the emptiness with substitutes does not help.  Substitutes may take up space, but they don’t generate the purpose.

Jesus started his greatest sermon with a list called the Beatitudes, a list of blessings that fill properly our empty moments in life.  And Jesus doesn’t prescribe substitutes, He fills the voids with Exactly what must be given in order to regain fullness.  In the middle of the list is a prescription that speaks to the cup of our soul.  Jesus teaches us that those who hunger for righteousness will receive a full cup of it. Hungering for the truth instead of substitutes is like a permanent lifetime refill machine.  Jesus promises that those who do will not be disappointed.

Unfortunately, hungering for righteousness is too uncommon.  More often than not, people are satisfied filling their cups with substitutes like selfishness, materialism, worldliness and more.  But in the end, the substitutes leave us empty and sick, needing even more a filling that only comes with Truth.

The beginning of a year is a good time to check out your cup.  If your soul is feeling empty, start seeking the Truth & righteousness that only comes from God.   If you have been filling your soul with worldly substitutes, change your thinking and start thirsting for pure refills from the Lord.  Don’t live another day with emptiness, let Jesus fill your cup.  He is a barista that never lets you down.

01/05/17 - Matt 4

Jan 5, 2017 – Matt 4

At once they left their nets and followed him. Matt 4:20

When Jesus asks, act immediately ... hesitation leads to failure.

Someone once said: “He who hesitates is lost.”  I don’t know how lost they might be, but certainly the one who hesitates loses an opportunity.

Lost opportunity is not uncommon.  We are given new opportunities every day --- when to get up, what to eat, what to wear, where to work, and much more.  Opportunities may be large or small, but one thing is consistently true: every opportunity has a short lifespan.  The key to opportunity is discerning quickly and taking action.  Hesitating either closes the door of the opportunity, or permits someone else to take advantage of it.  Many times, the hesitation itself creates negative inertia that is much harder to overcome.  Failure comes because we didn’t act, or because we didn’t give it our all.  Action doesn’t guarantee success, but hesitation guarantees failure.

While life offers opportunities, Jesus doesn’t.  He offers callings.  Periodically in life, He makes a request and gives us the option to act on His prompting.  Normally it’s not multiple choice, Jesus is clear in His request.  Often, Jesus warns of the costs, and shares a simple vision of where it leads.  Seldom does Jesus tell us all the details, and He prefers it that way.  After all, callings are not about knowing the cost, but pursuing no matter what the cost is.  So in the moment Jesus makes the request, our answer will either immediate: take action or hesitate. 

That’s where Peter & Andrew found themselves when Jesus called them to become His disciples.  After a teaching session in their boat, Jesus invited them to a new mission in life – catching men’s souls instead of fish soles.  Given the situation, many good intentioned people would be slow to respond, hesitating to consider the cost.  But these two brave men didn’t hesitate.  They just got out of the boat, left everything behind, and started following.  Not only did they take action, they took it immediately.

Faith is learning NOT TO HESITATE.  When we believe fully in Jesus, it doesn’t always  mean we have to leave our careers or dreams behind, but it does mean we start taking action immediately whenever Jesus asks us to do something.  That could be feeding a homeless person, forgiving an enemy, sharing your testimony, giving to the work of the Church, or a hundred other instructions.  Faith doesn’t hesitate, it takes immediate action.

You may feel like you missed out on a calling.  Many people do.  Don’t waste time rehearsing the past.  Choose today to take action whenever Jesus asks.  Decide to trust in His calling, and act immediately.  No more hesitation, no more regrets.  Get out of your boat and leave the nets behind.  They will be there if Jesus has you return.  Make hesitation a thing of the past and discover the calling as you obey.  You’ll be glad you did.