Baptism at Singles Retreat - 147 Baptized!!!

*******************Baptism at Singles Retreat 147 Baptized!!! ***********************

* Sharing times in the Word and looking for growth. Let's Commune Together!

Saturday, April 7, 2018

God knows what you want…Do you know Why you want it?


When we claim to believe that Jesus conquered death and rose from the gravewe open a door for a life with no impossibilities! Yet, so many of usincluding myself, struggle living in that power and seeing all that God wants to do in our lives. We are examining why this happens. For review:


1. We Place Our Limits on that Power!
            a. By what we Think is possible.
            b. By what we Think we know.

2. We Dictate the Path of that Power!
            a. We interfere with Gods power by not seeing the BIG picture!
            b. We interfere with Gods power by Forgetting that our way is not 
                His way!

The final problem is a constant struggle for all believers.

3. We Possess the Wrong Motive for that Power! We do this by thinking it is about anything other than God first. (Not Only, First!)

The stress between these two truths is what requires a serious examination of why we ask for God’s help. Most believers want to glorify God, still, they hope for what they asked for, this is normal. The subtle danger is which one dominates our motive! God does not expect you to ask for something and then not care if you get it, that would be absurd. The issue is Trust! When the “bottom line” of your faith is to glorify God, you are by faith trusting God for the rest!

This principle integrates into every area of our life:

Good Works:
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Unity:
Romans 15:5–6 Now may God…grant you to be of the same mind...so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

Your Body:
1 Corinthians 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

Suffering:
1 Peter 4:16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.

Even how we eat:
1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Martha was struggling to believe it was not to late for Lazarus.

Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

The So What: When you ask for Gods help, what is the reason? Are you willing to take the step required to see God's power? - Jn 11:41 So they removed the stone.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

There is my way; there is your way, what really matters is His way!


The resurrection of Jesus Christ changed everything of importance in the universe in a twinkling of an eye! The dilemma is that we remain in bodies that have a fallen nature very susceptible to sin.

Hebrews 12:1…let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us.

The key is to live in that resurrection power moment by moment. We are identifying what keeps us from doing that. To review:

1. We Place Our Limits on that Power!
         a. By what we Think is possible.
         b. By what we Think we know.

Scripture states that as a man thinks so is he! When dealing with God’s power we must be careful not to make assumptions concerning God’s power.

2. We Dictate the Path of that Power!

a. We interfere with God’s power by not seeing the BIG picture! We determine when and how God will accomplish something. However, God always maximizes every opportunity! The disciples could only see Lazarus sick, but God had a bigger plan!

Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep. The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover...So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.

b. We interfere with God’s power by Forgetting that our way is not His way! We know this theologically, yet we struggle to remember it when we are in the midst of trials. Martha challenged the Lord that her brother was past hope. Jesus had to remind her:



Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?

The Lord had to challenge the two on the road to Emmaus with this same Truth.

Luke 24:25–26 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”

The so what: Have you asked for God’s help? If so, are you open to allow His power to come When and How He deems best? Do you see waiting can build many great character traits? Have you learned to Rest while you wait?

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Easter is over…now what?


In Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol Scrooge hated any celebration of Christmas day. In the story he is visited by three ghosts, past, present and future Christmas. When he is confronted with his own death, a very lonely and sad one, Scrooge breaks and begs for mercy. He is granted that and when he awakes he is in his room safe and soundbut now a different man! As he celebrates he makes a statement that speaks to our subject today:

Scrooge: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.’’

Scrooge understood that Christmas was not a day, but a state of mind! This is even truer with Easter. So many see it as a one day a year acknowledgement, then we move back to “real” life and do not think about it again for another year.

What wasted joy, peace and a potential for intimate fellowship with our Creator! When we understand that Easter communicates that not only did God walk among us, but gave Himself to pay the ultimate price so we could be redeemed, a door to a brand new and powerful way of living is opened before us!

I want to spend some time investigating why we do not see the “resurrection” power we say we believe in everyday of the year.

The text I will be drawing from is another resurrection story. John 11:11-45, if you desire to read it that would be good, I will be quoting from a lot of it.

The main problem is not a difficult one to diagnose – because it is
the root problem of all of our problems…Faith. Jesus dealt with this throughout His ministry but one that leaps out is found in Mark:

Mark 9:21–23 “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

If we really believe Jesus rose from the dead and offers us Life…eternal and abundant Life then we need to fill our mind with Who He is and what He has promised! There are three problems I have witnessed over the years that interfere with God’s power interacting with us. We will look at one today and the other two in the next Devo.

1. We Place Our Limits on that Power! I realize this drives the Hyper Sovereignty folks crazy, but that’s due to their inability to understand that when a Sovereign God places His own limits on His power, He is no less Sovereign…in fact that displays His Awesome power, only a Sovereign God could or would place limits on what He will allow to happen. Jesus showed this Truth in His hometown.

Matthew 13:58  And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
Mark 6:5–6 And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Jesus was still Jesus, but He chose to allow people’s faith to limit what He could do. Now don’t run too far with that – there are many times God does what He does in spite of our lack of faith, John 11 is a good example. We never know what God will do, but IF we have “trusting belief” (faith) we are exactly where God wants us to be!

How do we limit God’s power?

a. By what we Think is possible. Martha & Mary and all there had this problem.

Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died… Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”

So many times we draw a line that states: “After this it is too late to fix!” Whether it be a marriage, a calling, or even our ability to be used after a serious failure. In this case it was death. Jesus makes it clear He never loses real control:

John 10:18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.

b. By what we Think we know. 

“Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

There is a subtle line between Real faith and intellectual faith! Martha knew her theology, but failed to understand that the Author of that theology was not limited to a date! Yes all those that believe will raise on that day, but God is not limited by that! Remember Enoch and Elijah never died, they were translated to heaven…not the standard way to go, but God chose it for His reasons!

As usual Jesus pushes the envelope to help Martha deal with her lack of faith.

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

We will leave Martha there and pick up next Devo. What is important is the question Jesus laid before Martha. The answer has eternal ramifications! Consider how Jesus put the question another time:

Matthew 16:13–16 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

The so what: Who do you believe Jesus is? How has that affected the way you live? How many days a week do you fellowship with Him?