Matthew 10:29-31 3/31/2020*

”Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So, don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows..”

As you watch the world battle a powerful virus do you feel afraid, isolated, and unnoticed?... In this scripture, Jesus dispels the lie that “God doesn’t care”.

There are approximately 400 billion birds in the world – sparrows are basically worthless…. Yet God is aware of each one of them.  

You, however, are made in God’s image and are infinitely more important to Him than sparrows… He is aware of every detail in your life… provides each breath you take - and knows the number of hairs on your head. God knows your fear and anxiety …and they matter to Him. Your pain impacts God’s heart.

Why did Jesus weep at Lazarus’ funeral? He knew he was going to call Lazarus out of the grave…so why did He cry? The reason was because Lazarus friends and family were weeping… and because Jesus loved those people - He hurt…so Jesus wept.  Even when our grief is from a lack of information…He grieves with us. He weeps with the those who are wounded.

But His tears are never from fear or desperation - and ours shouldn’t be either. God is not pacing the floor. He has a plan. As Easter approaches and we celebrate the greatest rescue mission in history…let us rely on the proven love that prompted God to send His Son.  

The message of Easter is that you matter to God…Not as a group - but as an individual. God made salvation personal, because he loves you personally.  Isaiah 43:1 says, “…I have called you by name….” He died for you - by name. He doesn’t distantly love you - He lives in your heart. He is your ever-present help in times of trouble. (Psalms 46)

Trust Him.  Understand that when your sin threatened to separate you from Him … He gave His Son to stop it.  He paid the ultimate price to rescue you - and He will never leave you.  

Hold on tight… you are not alone…and nothing is out of His control.

“The shape of true love isn’t a diamond. It’s a cross.”
 – Alicia Bruxvoort

Romans 12:12 3/24/2020*

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

The three “Be’s” of survival… Be joyful, Be patient, and Be prayerful.

Hearing that we should be joyful in difficult times is perplexing because we have confused Joy, with happiness. Happiness results from circumstances…Joy exist in spite of them.  Our joy comes from our hope which has also been mis-defined… Hope is not wishing …it is being certain.  Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see.”

That kind of hope allows us to endure tests joyfully because we trust in Christ. We have hope - not like the world does- but a hope built on confidence in God’s power.

Secondly “be patient” – This is alien to us. Our culture has literally killed patience. We irritably drum our fingers as the microwave takes 10 seconds to heat our food.  We want instant answers to any problem we face.

Can you remember the last time you were patient in a time of affliction?  How have you been handling the long lines at the grocery store? Or waiting for an answer to your current problem?….  When is the last time you were patient because you had hope (certainty) in God and that assuredness impacted your countenance with others in your life?

Finally, “be prayerful”.  Anxiously complaining improves absolutely nothing.  It worsens the problem by producing fear. But If you believe the bible, you must believe that prayer changes things. 

James says, “You do not have because you do not ask God”. Colossians says, “devote yourselves to prayer”. Thessalonians says, “Pray continually”

As a planet we have been given a “time out” … We are being told to be still. Psalms 46 says, to be still and know that He is God. …so, are you doing that?…. All the urgent stuff you thought had to be done can apparently wait. Break the 24-hour news cycle and dedicate some time to prayer… it will completely change your heart.

Be joyful in affliction because you are certain of God’s love. Be patient because you are certain of His power, and be prayerful because there is no safer place to be in times of trouble then in your Father’s arms.

“The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue; courage is only the second virtue.”  - Napoleon Bonaparte

Proverbs 24:10 3/17/2020*21*

“If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength!”

I will not attempt to tell you how much of this crisis is hype, and how much is serious…because it doesn’t matter - our orders are the same:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

The discussion seems to be centered on severity… and who is to blame…but that is the wrong focus.

By any definition, this is a time of trouble…. The only thing you control is how you respond.

We talk about faith and courage but then go buy toilet paper since everyone else is… thereby causing a shortage.  Like sheep, we run in herds jumping imaginary fences because the one in front of us jumped…. That is fear.

But we have been commanded to be strong and courageous …..not fearful. You can’t control circumstances, but you can control how you respond.

Courage is only courage when it is challenged. You cannot be fearless when there is no danger. So now is our chance to show those around us what the peace of God looks like.

While the public is desperate, the church should be different. We should exude faith and calmness… helping those in need, and shining light into darkness …We should stand in stark contrast to the anxiety all around us.

Talk of faith is cheap, until trouble comes –
So do you have faith now? ...is it real? - Then walk in it.

Be wise as serpents (Matt. 10:16) and act intelligently, but have no fear because fear is not from God (2 Tim. 1:7). And when the enemy lies about what you should be scared of, he speaks his native language (John 8:44) so don’t listen.

If we falter in time of trouble our strength is small….
Now is a time of trouble - so step up Christian…are you just going to talk about your faith, or are you going to live it out?

Show the world what confidence in God looks like – bring wisdom and calmness to your surroundings - so others will be attracted to God’s power and seek the love and peace they see in you.

“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” - Corrie Ten Boom

Psalm 149:4 3/10/2020*22*

“…He crowns the humble with victory.”

When did we start believing being humble was a burden? Why is such a liberating quality seen as a sacrifice?

We have wrongly defined humility as inhibition, lack of confidence, or thinking badly of ourselves. None of which have anything to do with humility…those are in fact the opposite –self-centeredness.

Humility is not thinking badly of yourself; it is not thinking of yourself at all… It is trusting God with you - and focusing on others….And humbleness is the antithesis of a burden, in fact it is the most freeing thing you will ever experience.

This verse says God “crowns the humble with victory” … so let’s stop acting like humility is a penance we pay for being a Christian, and realize it is our ticket to complete and total freedom.

John 3:30 says “He must increase, and I must decrease” … that’s not a negative…it is a rescue…a redemption. I can disappear into the loving arms of Christ, and He can appear through me.

Can you imagine the freedom you would experience if you didn’t have to worry about you?  If all your self-centered anxieties and fears suddenly disappeared?

Think about it…How much time do you waste wondering what others think of you?  What if you truly didn’t care who got credit for the good things you’ve done?  …Imagine the time you would save if you stopped second guessing God on His plans regarding all your circumstances.

God’s solution is called humility…and if you will lay hold of it – He will crown you with victory…Solid, definable, victory.

So, what are you waiting for? … Allow yourself to disappear in the arms of God…relax in His shadow today and let your only concern be serving Him.

Do what is right… and don’t worry who gets the credit.  Give cheerfully with reckless abandon knowing God has you covered.  Claim the promise that “The joy of the Lord is your strength” and live strong in that joy.

This morning leave “self” at home and instead focus on God and others.

Drop the burden of self-centeredness, take God at His Word and give humility a try…If you do, God will crown you with victory, His Joy will be your strength, and you will experience peace and freedom like you’ve never known.

“Humility, is that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot.” -Thomas Moore

1 John 4:16 3/3/2020*23*

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

Where does your stability come from?…What is your anchor in the storm? This passage contains three truths to help you find out:

First – Do you rely on God’s love for you?  Most of us rely on our good works as our credentials… But this says to rely, not on what you have done, but on the fact that God loves you.

Second – God is love… What does that mean?  There are accounts in scripture of Jesus’ words hurting people’s feelings…so it is not about just being kind or non-offensive. It is something much bigger than that.

Third – If I talked to your friends and family would they say you “live in love, and that they catch glimpses of God living in you”?

This passage has three powerful sentences…27 life changing words. If we want to understand them – we must live them.

Start by relying on God’s love to establish who you are... Nothing will give you more stability. Nothing is more solid than the love God has for you, and if you rely on that for your foundation you will be unshakable.

Then decide to Love others the way God loves… Not what is easiest for you, or most comfortable… but what is best for them. Truth over comfort… Godly love is a verb, and it acts for the betterment of others, regardless of the cost.

At the end of the verse it says, “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” …think about that statement. It is either true or it is absurd. You must deny it, or it must impact every moment of your day.

You can’t compartmentalize that truth. It must influence how your treat your friends, and how you treat your enemies. It must affect how you talk to your family, and to your adversaries. You must lean on this truth in good times, and in bad times.

There is no middle ground….Choose your anchor….Start now and find your strength in how much God loves you…trust His faithfulness and it will impact yours….it will change all you are, and all you do.

“All God's giants have been weak men and women who have gotten hold of God's faithfulness.”  - Hudson Taylor

Proverbs 15:28 2/25/2020*

“The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.”

What is the difference between weighing an answer and letting it gush out of your mouth?....

The difference is control…in one instance you are controlling your mouth, in the other your mouth is controlling you….

Our hearts and our mouths are connected…We have all experienced times when we have talked ourselves into a rage. We get on a roll and the more we talk the angrier we become.

That is an example of our mouth gushing wickedness and sweeping our emotions along in the flow.

This verse says that’s evil…

Instead we should think before we speak… weigh our answers…consider well our responses.

That is a difficult instruction - that for most people will require great change.

First you must listen to understand… not to respond. In order to weigh your answer, you need facts…listening is how you find them.

Second it requires humility…If you are already sure you are right, there is no need to listen… you are simply waiting for your opponent to take a breath so you can correct them.

Finally, it takes a desire to find the truth, and the patience to search for it.  Today we want sound bites and instant responses. But a righteous heart pursues truth and has the patience to seek it out.

As a young adult, I would sometimes ask my father complex questions … He would often respond, “let me think about that and get back to you”

He would weigh his answer …. there was a quality required of a response before he would allow it to pass through his lips…and hence his advice was always solid. As those of you who knew him know, you could always count on wisdom and truthfulness in his answers.

What if we did that…. What if we decided that today we would require a higher standard of our responses? What would change if we insisted on weighing our answers before allowing them to gush out of our mouths?

Try it for 24 hours…. It may seem simple – but scripture indicates it will be a life changing adjustment that brings wisdom and righteousness to your walk.

“We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.”
 – James 3:2

Romans 5:8 2/18/2020*

“But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Most of us are familiar with this verse and probably learned it when we were young... But have you considered it as an adult? It is a powerful statement that unfortunately loses impact with familiarity.

Read it again as though you’ve never read it before…It is astonishing.

This world does not contain that kind of love. You and I don’t forgive people who are not sorry for what they’ve done.  We demand remorse and change before we even consider allowing someone who has offended us back into our circle.

However, this verse says God loves you so much that He allowed His Son to be sacrificed for you while you were not only - unapologetic - but still actively sinning against Him.

You weren’t sorry for what you did…and you were still doing it.  Yet, as you broke God’s heart – He gave His Son for your redemption.

Think about that. Think about loving someone so much that while they were attacking you – you were finding a way to save them… That is God’s love for you.

That is why legalism and thinking you have earned His love is so offensive.  He loved you while you were rejecting Him. He doesn’t love us because we obey Him - we obey Him because He loves us.

If you can grasp that concept it changes everything… it is the difference in pulling a string - and pushing one… trying to earn His love produces frustration and bitterness…if you are grateful and secure in His love - it produces spontaneous obedience from a joyful heart… It is life altering.

Understanding that God loved us while we didn’t deserve it - removes anxiety, fear, and depression and produces stability, courage, and discipline.  Grasping this truth produces security that is offered nowhere else.

Accept the unconditional love that God is offering you today.  Understand it is a gift and live in that freedom. Let the truth of His stubborn love fill your heart so full that you can’t help but splash it out on everyone you meet.

“Here's the paradox. We can fully embrace God's love only when we recognize how completely unworthy of it we are.”
― Ann Tatlock

James 4: 13-16 2/11/2020*

“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.”

This verse doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make plans, but it deals with the attitude you should have when you make them.  

An impatient and arrogant heart can lead to two fatal flaws.

First – God has you where you are right now for a reason. “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118-24) -. Too often we allow our plans for tomorrow, to cause us to miss our purpose for today.

Be where you are …You have divine appointments today so open your eyes – It is possible to miss the reason you’re here - when you are always headed somewhere else…Seek His Will today - deal with tomorrow, tomorrow.

Secondly – Pride is misleading…. It is absurd for us to think we can predict the future. We don’t control tomorrow, and thinking we do is prideful…  and scripture says that is the emotion that appears right before destruction. (Prov. 16:18)

Proverbs also says, “A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the LORD.”  - So, make plans…Do everything you can to “prepare your horse for battle”…but in your heart, understand that God is in control.

Great planners have great humility. They understand their limitations and constantly seek the wisdom and direction of the Lord. Adjusting for His Will, not their egos.

If you don’t do this, your “great plans” are just arrogant schemes…Be sure that when you make plans you seek God’s blueprint?…not your desires. This life is a mist, and if your focus is on temporary vanity, your plans will vanish as your life will…Be single minded and make sure that eternity is your focus.

Determine to not waste today planning for tomorrow. And when you do make plans, seek your Father, so you can move forward with certainty based on His all-knowing plan…not your uninformed schemes.

“When your will is God's will, you will have your will.”
- Charles Spurgeon

1 Corinthians 11:1 2/4/2020*

“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”

Most of us wouldn’t be comfortable making that statement. But it is false humility that causes us to confuse that discomfort with modesty.

It is actually laziness and lack of commitment on our part. Paul is setting the bar for our lives - and if we can’t make this statement we are missing the mark.

There is no arrogance here…He is not saying “I am perfect so you should do everything I do”…He is saying “My heart belongs completely to Christ and that motivates my every step, and it should be the same for you”.

Jesus instructs us to “be perfect as God is perfect” …His sacrifice on the cross occurred because He knew we would fail… but it is not there to make us comfortable with that failure.

The goal is the goal…the bar is set, and we are to be satisfied with nothing less.

If you have accepted Jesus as your savior - but not your Lord -  that should cause you to question …If you are not striving for perfection and you don’t desire to stop heaping sin on His shoulders then you have missed something.

But if your pursuing Jesus why aren’t you comfortable saying “imitate me as I imitate Christ”?...  Are you worried you will stumble?…Don’t be … If you do,  humbly confess – repent and ask for forgiveness …. That is the essence of the gospel, and those who watch you can learn to imitate that as well.

Here is the deal…You might as well get comfortable quoting this verse because it is going to happen anyway…If God puts people in your life for you to mentor they are going to imitate you as you imitate Christ…and that is an awesome responsibility…embrace it.

Don’t lower the bar with your false humility and sluggishness…Run hard after God so that those following you will have to do the same to keep up.

We are called to make disciples, and disciples are made with words that are backed up by actions - so get busy. Christianity is a full-time job. Accept the challenge and like Paul, imitate Christ to the level that you are spreading the gospel with every word you say, and every step you take.

“Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”
- St. Francis of Assisi.

Proverbs 19:3 1/28/2020 *8/26*

“A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the Lord.”

We have become a people that thrive on blaming others.

Refusing to accept responsibility for our own problems, we blame our families, bosses, coaches, teachers, elected officials and ultimately we blame God… Anyone, but the person in the mirror.

On the surface this seems like a way to ease the pain of life, but it is actually the opposite. It creates an environment of helplessness. We can’t fix what we didn’t break…and if we convince ourselves that our anguish is the fault of others then we are powerless to change it.

This has produced a culture of anxiety and despair persuading us that we are victims of things we cannot control….

But humor me for a moment…Let’s pretend that some of your problems are your fault…let’s assume that some of your difficulties are of your own making - and that your foolishness has damaged your life…. What would that mean?

It would mean you can fix it…

It would mean you’re not a victim….You have control…you can pick up the phone and mend a relationship, you can stop being paranoid about what others think, you can love others instead of demanding you be loved first… all of a sudden this assumption gives you power.

And it is more than just an assumption…This verse states that our own folly is what wrecks our lives… our sin creates chaos and bitterness in our world and brings anger, pain and despair.

So, change it.  

Draw a circle around yourself today and take complete responsibility for everything that happens inside of that circle. Don’t worry about what happens outside of it - but make sure you control everything inside - and control your responses to whatever happens outside.

Then instead of blaming God…Put your faith in Him. Let Him fight the enemies outside of that circle, and you battle the one that is inside it.

You will be amazed at the peace and rest that will come when you take back responsibility for your life – and release the resentment you’ve held toward others.

Control what you can control – and rely on God to manage the rest.

“Beware of no man more than of yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us.” -  Charles Spurgeon