Saying No to God.

I have to agree with Youth Extreme, that expectations need to be up front. Hidden facts that come up later can cause a lot of unwanted stress on every one.
We have to realize that you will always have your givers and doers and your ones that just don’t want to be involved at any level. That is between them and God. Personally if I have the time and resources I will usually say yes. I’m more of a instant in season and out of season type of guy. I have a very flexible life. No, I’m not retired yet. But, if someone needs something, I’ll usually drop what I’m doing to help. Everything and anything can wait, when it comes to doing something for God.

Now don’t take me wrong. I have my own sense of priorities.
1. My relationship with God.
2. My relationship with my wife
3. My relationship with my children
4. My relationship with my job.
5. My relationship with the church

You might ask yourself, where do you fit into my priority list? My relationship with God requires me to be obedient to Him and His Word. The Lord impresses on me, what I am to do for you as the situation requires. Ministering to people is ministering to God. Jesus said. “If you have done it onto the least of these my brethren, you have done it onto me.” Remember our Motto: Love God and Love People. When you live a life with that in mind, you really can’t live past the present, because something might come up, where God requires you, to do something.
I can take people telling me, no. But I can’t say no to God. If you tell God no too often, He just might quit asking. Another way to look at say no to God, is how many unanswered prayers do you have. Why should God answer your prayers when you are constantly saying no to Him? It’s something to think about. To the one who knows to do good and doesn’t, to him it is sin.
Say yes to Jesus and he will say yes to you.

Receiving from God!

Divine healing, divine supply, divine protection / deliverance, divine intervention on all levels is considered a miracle. Why does God seem to intervene on the behalf of some and not another? Why does it seem like God will perform a supernatural intervention on behalf of a sinner while at the same time allow a “believer” languish in pain and suffering, poverty, etc.?

I can only look at what the Word of God states concerning these things and see where I might fall in there. Do I believe and do I truly have faith?
1. I know that God is not a respecter of persons.
2. I know that cares for those who love Him and obey His Word.
3. I know He has everything under control that enters my life.
4. I know that He is the author and the finisher of my faith.
5. I know that He hears my prayers, because I believe that He exists
6. I know that the will of God that I perform in my life will come back to me in this life.
7. I know He won’t let me be tempted, above my ability to resist.

A lot of what we desire to receive from God is conditional upon how we believe and act out our beliefs in this life. By doing onto others you are setting things in motion to have them returned onto you. When we minister onto the Lord, we are showing our faith in what He said. By you being obedient to His word, He will perform His Word in our lives. Do you want to be encouraged? Then, go and encourage someone in the Lord. Do you want to be healed? Go lay hands on someone that needs healing and pray for them. Not just one time, but every time you come across someone who is sick. Remember it’s not you anyway, it’s God who heals. You are just the instrument at the time. Do you need supply? Give to someone else that has a need and know for yourself, that God is truly your supply. When we start living and ministering the Word of God to other people, we will see the Word of God performed in our lives too.

We need to know whether or not we have faith for these things, or is our faith, really hope. If you believe, that God is who He says He is and He holds His word above His Name, then when you’ve done all that you can do to stand, STAND.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Faith is now. Hope is in the future. Read Isaiah 53 1-5 and 1 Peter 2:24 in the KJV. Our healing was part of the atonement. Jesus paid for it all on the cross. He redeemed us spirit, soul and body. If your in Him, then all this is for you. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. SO!

Go or stay

Go or stay? Go or stay? We have to ask ourselves the why’s in all of this. Why do I want to go? Why do I want to stay? Some people make a list of each and the one with the most wins. I’ve heard people be religious and say the Lord told me to go. My question is, does the Lord really care if you stay or go? I’ve heard people say, I’ve been called to a different church. This poses a particular question, especially when this individual didn’t do anything in the church they were at.
I think it’s easy to go and hard to stay. The people I’ve seen go are not any better off and not any happier then they were. Some are even not serving God anymore, just because they went. We see this stay and go dilemma played out every day. Spouses go, people go to different jobs, go from one addiction to another, move from one city to another looking for something and finding nothing. We’re not happy where we’re at, so we’re going to go and find our happiness. True happiness and joy comes from God. When all we have to do is learn to be content with what the Lord has given us and to understand that this is our lot in life. Financially, we’re only going to prosper as our souls prosper. For the Christian to keep trying to reach for the golden ring, it will always be elusive. If you believe that you truly are in Christ Jesus and He is your source for everything, then you really don’t have to go anywhere. He will prosper you, where your at. Supplying all your needs according to His rich’s in glory through Christ Jesus. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. How would it make Him look, to allow you to prosper above what your able to handle, (because he knows everything) and your wealthy lifestyle causes you to fall away, as some have and they haven’t realized it yet?
In Judaism, it is believed that every persons standard of living is set by God. By understanding this, you don’t need to struggle with trying to be something that God has determined that your not. I find great peace and comfort in this. I’m right where God wants me economically. We gave up our rights to build our own careers when we accepted Christ as our Savior. We are to be working for the Kingdom. We were bought with a price. We are not our own. Any job we have or career we work at is to pay the bills. It’s a means, not an end. The Kingdom has to come first. That’s why the term living within your means should mean something to Christians. What profits a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
Even if you’re your lot in life is to be average, your obligations are the same as the one who is above average or better. You see we’re all to do our share with what the Lord has given us. We are to be Stewards.
Stay or go? Ask the Lord and leave it in his hands. But be honest with yourself and with others. If you go and the Lord didn’t tell you to, and your chasing the golden ring or the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, your going to be disappointed. Come back and tell the Lord, that your willing to live His way and He will bless whatever you put your hands to.
I’m going to stay. There is a lot of work for me to do for Him right here in Battle Creek.

He has Risen!

Soap Box Time

ONE DAY A YEAR! The church of our crucified Savior, celebrates, His death and His Resurrection. WHOOPIE and we can’t even get that right. The church (Main Line denominations, Fundamentalist, Pentecostals etc.) don’t even try to get it right. They would just as soon stay with the status quo and keep the boat steady. The same conditions exits today as in Jesus day which caused him to say, “the traditions of the elders have made the Word of God of none affect.”

I didn’t need to see the Passion of the Christ to know the horrible death the Christ suffered. I’ve read the Gospels. How long did it take you, for the shock and awe to wear off, after seeing Jesus beat and tortured and finally nailed to the cross? Seeing the nails put in His hands and feet. Seeing, the solder pierce His side with the spear, watching the anguish on His mother face, as her son was killed right in front of her. How long did it take for you to forget and carry on with your life? How long?
Yes, Jesus died, and He arose from the dead. For that I am eternally grateful. For me to celebrate that just once a year, would be like being a Christian only on Sunday. Maybe your not getting me here. There are many types of Christians. Even after seeing the Passion of the Christ, you still have Christmas and Eas*er Christians, you have Sunday / Wednesday Christians, you have Sabbath Observant Christians, you have people who know how to talk like a Christian, so they must be Christians.

To quote DC Talk “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door and deny it by their lifestyle. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

It’s not whether you go to church once a week, twice or three times a week, once a year or twice a year. Church doesn’t make you a Christian, no more than going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger. How are you living your life? Are you walking the way God wants you to? Are you doing what God wants you to when He wants you to?
Are you walking in the Light and Truth of the Word of God? That’s what makes you a Christian. Don’t tell me. Show me your Jesus. Show me the God in you. Let me see your faith. No I’m not from Missouri.

I want to encourage Youth Extreme to reread the Word of God. Look at how Jesus handled situations. His whole message was one of Peace and Love. So it is only fitting that the cross, the instrument of his death remind us of how He lived His life (sinless) unto His Father (our Father) and why He died (sinless) for living His life that way. Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach and baptize and teach all the things that He taught. To be a Christian is to be Christ-like. If Jesus was soft, I’m the Marshmallow Man. Remember we are to hate the sin and love the sinner.

A lot Christians that I meet are hard hearted with a harder message, who live a compromised lifestyle, that’s why their message is so hard. That’s why people look and walk away shaking their heads.

Sunday April 16th, we will commemorate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. On Monday April 17th we should show the world where have influence, that because of this event over 2000 years ago, we have rededicate ourselves to cause of our Savior. We should celebrate His death and resurrection everyday of our lives by fulfilling the will of God in the earth as Jesus wanted us to.