Archive for Relationships
I Believe in You!
Posted by: | CommentsHello Friends,
Following is a blog entry that my wife, Mikki, recently wrote. It is so full of life that I wanted to share it with you. I hope it will encourage you personally and also remind you of the power of your words in the lives of those you teach and lead.
Blessings,
Eddie Lawrence
__________________________________
I think you’d be great at…
You have a wonderful way of…
You really have a gift of …
You are a gift to me…
I believe in you!
We all need them. As a matter of fact, our soul wilts without them. I’m not speaking of flattery which we might give or receive with the end in mind of manipulating someone for some purpose of our own. I am speaking of true encouragement.
God created us to give and receive it. In the beginning moments of time, Adam named his wife “Eve” which meant “life – the mother of all living.” Is that a big deal? You bet! She had just fallen. She was draped in discouragement and disappointment. When her husband looked at her and called her Eve, he was saying, “You are life to me and to the purposes of God in the earth”. He was fulfilling one of his purposes as her husband – to cover her with love and encouragement. He was also affirming his agreement with what God had decreed after her failure – “Satan, through this woman’s seed, your head will be bruised – crushed. You have brought destruction, but you and your purposes will ultimately be destroyed and cast down – through the very one you have attacked. Her seed will topple you.” Adam’s agreement with God was a shift from his earlier statement which indicated that he wanted to blame his wife for his own fall. After hearing God’s perspective, he now was able to speak life over his wife – instead of accusation.
I believe we are all created with a deep longing to be significant. To impact our world. Our world at home. Our world at work. Our world – wherever we are living it out.
When we are bowed low with condemnation as the first woman certainly was, how beautiful it is when someone else can see beyond our failure and say, “You have purpose! I believe in you!”
It is part of our connectedness to humankind. We need each other.
Sometimes we find ourselves so empty. We often look wrongly to others to fill that emptiness. No one else can fill us as can God’s Spirit. Yet I believe that God’s gentle loving Holy Spirit often fills us through our relationships with others. Now give me time to explain that! I believe that Satan often offers us a cheap imitation of what God really wants us to have. I don’t believe it is wrong to need others’ affirmation. We really do need each other! Adam needed someone to come alongside him. That’s what the word “helpmeet” means in Genesis. It is offensive to women if they don’t understand what God is saying. He is not saying that a woman is just on the planet to be man’s helper. He is saying that woman is to give man what he does not have without her. She completes him. The same word is used for the Holy Spirit. He is our helper – he gives us what we do not have so that we can complete God’s purposes.
Man needs woman. Woman needs man. Truthfully, we ALL need each other.
When another human can see the image of God within us …when someone else can see the purposes of God on our lives…when someone can recognize the ways that the enemy of our souls has bruised us and speak life over our very being, they are acting in a way which is consistent with God’s character and a way that helps to open our hearts and spirits to receive what God longs to pour in.
We were created to be fully human and full of God’s Spirit – just as Jesus was. We can’t really experience what it means to be fully alive until we become humans full of the Spirit of God.
I remember a time in my early twenties when I first realized that God might actually want to use me – me – a young woman who had a desperate need to feel loved and significant. I spent days in a sort of deep pleasure. My heart had been touched by a missionary whom God used to awaken my soul to the world of humanity. I thought I must also surely be called to be a missionary. I was overtaken with joy to think God could really use me. That may sound ridiculously religious but it was truly revelation to me. I devoured the Word of God. It was breathing and living. That season began an important part of my journey with God.
Years later, I again experienced God’ Spirit bathing me with His love. I literally felt His warmth for eight days. I remember thinking, “I’ve always loved God” – (even from a young child of five, I remember praying beside my bed – begging for God’s help. I always believed.) “But now, (I thought) I am in love with Him.” Food meant nothing. Nothing was important but being with Him. He soaked me in His presence. The Word of God was my food. God began a process of dealing with my need to understand Him as my Father – and my need to understand what a father was meant to be.
I began to hear God’s voice just as Adam and Eve did in the beginning. I began to hear His voice in my spirit. And I began – in a new way - to hear His voice through others.
I timidly began to walk in the purposes of God for my life that were just too amazing for me to believe before. Slowly. Baby steps. Fearfully. And just as a mother or father might encourage a child who is beginning to walk, others encouraged me. “Take that step. You can do it. I believe in you. I’ll hold your hands. I’ll catch you if you fall.”
That was ten years ago. The revelation continues to come together for me. In the last few months, I have understood, in a new way, my life story. The threads God has been weaving into my tapestry. I heard Beth Moore say that we can’t divorce our destiny from our history. So often, we want to do that. We’d love to forget all the imperfect parts of our lives. All the failures and struggles. We’d like to prune our family trees of all imperfect people. Problem is – that would include us!
I have found that when my husband speaks life over me, I find encouragement to fulfill my destiny. I have found that when others speak life over me – when they believe in me, I find encouragement to believe that God, also, sees me and knows me.
Jesus certainly did this in his ministry. Although he saw the woman at the well in her sin, he also spoke to her in a way that said, “Things can be different. You don’t have to be empty. I can fill you.” And then he used her to touch a city.
Sometimes we hesitate to give encouragement because we don’t want others to misunderstand it, but Jesus was constantly speaking life and destiny over people. In their failure. In their sicknesses. In their hopelessness. In their grief.
God spoke encouragement over Jesus. “You are my beloved son. I am really pleased with you.” As a matter of fact, God said this more than once to his son.
Sometimes Jesus spoke about a person’s sin or something difficult that would happen in their future, but he consistently also gave hope and encouragement.
I thought this morning about the words of a song Tin Man that a folk-rock group named
Sometimes late when things are real
And people share the gift of gab between themselves
Some are quick to take the bait
And catch the perfect prize that waits among the shelves
But Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man
That he didn’t, didn’t already have …
So please believe in me
In one way, the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz already had within him everything he needed. But yet he needed someone else to affirm that – someone to give him the keys to unlock that part of himself. He needed someone to believe in him.
And so we all are as believers. We have a destiny known by God from the beginning of time. It is already inside us – through the plans of God stamped on our humanness – and through the Spirit of God filling our spirits. But when someone else sees that and believes in us, it strengthens us. It encourages us to take another step – even when we’ve failed – even when we’re tired. The Body of Christ in the earth is just that – a Body. One piece connected to another. So when Jesus said that we are to love one another as we love ourselves, perhaps one part of that love is the ministry of encouragement.
It waters my soul.
So please believe in me…
(You can visit and read more of Mikki’s postings at her MikkiBlogs site.)
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Cultivating An Atmosphere of Grace – Sermon Outline
Posted by: | CommentsCultivating An Atmosphere of Grace
Galatians 6:1-10
The letter written to the churches in Galatia addresses how vigorously believers should hold the message of the Cross of Jesus and the Grace of God.
Examples:
1:6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
4:8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.
5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,[
a] and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.In order to cultivate an atmosphere of grace there needs to be a:
1. Belief in Restoration v1 (We have to provide a way forward out of failure, this is why Jesus came!)
2. Ministering to the bruised with gentleness v1 (It hurts enough when people are gentle) A broken bone has to be set. It will still hurt when it is done as gently as possible. To go beyond that can be cruel.
3. Realization of our own humanity v1 We can see things different ways and both still be wrong. We must always consider our own propensity to do wrong.
4. An understanding that Bearing Burdens= loving v2(This is the core of the Cross message) In entering into someone else’s pain, we are able to experience the sacrificial element of the love of Christ. The power to bear another’s burden comes out of a heart of true compassion. To do it for the appearance of men is religion. To do it because you really care is Christianity.
5. An understanding that pride builds a web of deception v3(It’s what we don’t see that others do see that can become the sea that we drown in)
6. An acceptance of the responsibility for what we each are supposed to do and do it. V4-5(practical stuff—throw away your own trash, flush your own toilet, put your own clothes in the hamper, put your own dish in the dishwasher.
7. A Giving Heart and Attitude v6(Our gifts from God’s heart of Grace)
The heart of this is about appreciation. I receive from you and I want to bless you. It is in the reciprocal atmosphere of giving and recieving that grace abounds. It is driven by a "What can I give mentality?’ as opposed to a "What can I get mentality?"
8. A sober understanding that there is a consequence for our right and wrong choices and actions.v7-8
Reap what we sow. The seed you plant will determine what you’ll have for dinner later on. Sin is costly!
9. An internal surrender to be led by the Holy Spirit. V8It is those things truly birthed by the Spirit of God and those things already established by the Spirit of God that sets us on the right course.
10. A believe that a persistence in doing all these things leads to harvest.v9
Success is usually found on the other side of a struggle. The struggle is there to find out how serious you are about success.
11. A desire to do good to all.v10
12. An atmosphere of family v10
-We are family
-This is your house
-These are your chairs
-This is your people
A family stays on course because they learn how to love and forgive in the good and the bad. This takes grace. We can have a secular mentality that says, "You messed up, move away." or "You messed up, come here and let me help." Which is the true heart of family. The Father welcomes the repentant son and lets him know he is still family. This is what a house built on grace looks like.
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Wineskinology 101 (Pt.5) Sermon Series
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Wineskinology 101 (Pt. 5)
The Truth about the Cluster
Scripture Text for Series and for this sermon:
Matthew 9:17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Isaiah 65:8 Thus says the LORD:
“ As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
For a blessing is in it,’
So will I do for My servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them all.
Remember we have studied:
The purpose of a Wineskin
The Purpose of the Wine
Today we will study the Truth About the Cluster
The new wine has a blessing in it! This is what we are after. Isaiah says that the new wine is in the cluster. What truth can we draw from this so that our wine will have a blessing in it?
Main Points to Emphasize:
1. A Cluster means more than one (Making good wine is not about a single grape but about the cluster)
2. Hang out together (We must do this together. We can all hang together or die separately)
3. All connected to the same vine (John 15:5)
4. Touching other grapes (We must focus on developing an environment so that each of us are touching other grapes)
5. Wine is produced when they carry the weight of others (Jesus on the cross. The nature of the winepress and the making of wine is that the wine comes forth under pressure)
6. The lowest point of a man (In the old days the grapes were tread by the feet of man. Spiritually it is the same. Man at his lowest point often puts pressure on us. What comes forth under pressure reveals who we are inside. What kind of wine would come forth out of you today?)
What is the world is thirsty for?
-Freedom
-Comes from Forgiveness
-Civil War (still bitter, then not free)
-Marriage Problem/Parent or child problems,etc
-Divorce (still bitter then not free)
-Church Split
Deut 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom
And of the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of gall,
Their clusters are bitter.
We must not become bitter and produce cheap wine!
Jesus desire to be together with us.
Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed[b] and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new[c] covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
“with you” Jesus would not drink the wine if he was not with the cluster. He is committed to seeing people set free and fellowshipping with him.
Provide the blessing of the new wine to thirsty people in order for them to experience forgiveness and freedom.
-An environment of grace and mercy
-An atmosphere of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit
-A willingness to allow God to prune and cultivate us
-A commitment we will do it together
-A knowing that we will be squeezed in order to release what we carry
-A focus on Jesus alone
You can hear this message as I preached it at http://www.gracehouse.info
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Wineskinology 101 (pt.4) Sermon Series
Posted by: | CommentsWineskinology 101 (Pt. 4)
Review of Pt. 3
THE PURPOSE OF THE WINE
Matthew 9:17 Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Review: The Purpose of the Wineskin
The wineskin is a container to hold, carry, and pour out wine deliberately.
The Wine is to be drank by people.
The Wine is drank for a reason.
The Pupose of the Wine:
Look at N.T. uses of wine in the natural and compare to wine in the spiritual. Represents the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Eph.5:18)
1. Celebration
2. Fellowship
3. Comfort (Easing Pain)
THE PURPOSE OF THE WINE (Continued–Part 4)
Today we will see three more purposes of the wine:
4. Cleansing and Healing
Luke 10:34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
-He went to him (We often expect people to drag themselves to church. We even commend people when they come sick)
-He bandaged him—Bandaging means he covered his wounds. This is one way we stop the bleeding. Keeps more dirt from being added to the wound.
-He poured oil and wine (Took what he had and used it to help. We all have oil and wine)
-He set him on his own animal (He set him implies that he had to lift and carry him in order for him to recover) Remember the religious guys left him in the ditch to die. He was willing to be seen with the wounded one.
-When you help the wounded you often get blood and dirt on yourself. You have to risk being accused onr criticize because of your association with the person. Jesus was accused of being the friend of sinners.
-brought him to an inn (got him to a place where he could get help and recover)
-took care of him (continued to help him and even paid for what others did)
it is interesting to note that nothing is mentioned of looking for the guys that beat him up. The mission was to help the wounded.
1 Timothy 5:23 No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.
THE HOLY SPIRIT LOVES TO BE POURED INTO WOUNDS AND TO MEND THE BROKEN
-Cleansing removes the dirt—no longer feel guilty and dirty
-hurts but it is necessary ( I remember as a little guy when Mom would pour alcohol over my skinned knees. It was painful but necessary.
-Keeps you from becoming infected. Deals with those foreign things that are not good for you.
5. Boldness
-Day of Pentecost
The same people who ran now took a stand. The wine did it. It made them brave.
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL GIVE COURAGE AND BOLDNESS TO ACCOMPLISH GOD-SIZED ASSIGNMENTS
-Note it was outside where the boldness was needed
-Out side the temple
-outside the gate called beautiful
-In the natural as people drink, they become uninhibited and the walls come down and they tell you everything they think. The new wine also causes all kinds of walls to come down and we have the courage to face things and do things we would not normally face or do.
6. Affects Judgment
Rev, 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” 19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs. Revelation 19:15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
-The winepress is a symbol of a place of wrath. This is the meaning of the term in Steinbeck’s novel and the Scripture in Revelation THE GRAPES OF WRATH.
-The wine that flows out of the such a winepress represents something that has been judged.
-We drink the new wine (represented in the New Covenant when we partake communcion) that has already been through the winepress of God’s wrath. In other words, we do not carry God’s condemnation on our lives and therefore will not pass it off to others. This is an awesome quality of the new wine.
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL LEAD US TO OPERATE FROM A PLACE OF NO JUDGMENT OR CONDEMNATION
THERE ARE TWO BASIC CAMPS ON THIS VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE—
1.The church needs to be more holy. Meaning—more separated—meaning detached from the world.
2.The church needs to be more holy. Meaning so full of love and grace that she can wade into the worst of places the world has to offer and release the fragrance of grace and forgiveness.
1. Results in finger pointing, accusing, condemning, criticizing, hating, discriminating and judging
2. Results in becoming more broken over people’s sin, more compassion, more desire to touch them, more desire to understand them in order to reach them, willing to bear reproach to get to them.
1. Results in building our own fortress cities where we can live our lives more unaffected by the everyday world. We spend all our time together talking about how the world needs what we got. For the most part, it is a private party.
2. Results in building an open-house where people constantly come and go in order to get bread and drink to carry to the hungry and thirsty. Spend a lot of time going to the people who don’t yet know about the good stuff you have found. Wants everyone at the party.
Which one would Jesus join?
Conclusion—Imagine with me for a moment such a place, such a people. We choose to allow the Holy Spirit to move us away from all our religious baggage and become vessels through which the new wine can be poured out.
Across this city the wounded, bruised, bad, and broken cross our paths each day. Through pouring giving them a drink of the new wine and pouring it into their wounds we begin to see a people and place:
celebration, fellowship, comfort, cleansing and healing, boldness, and no judgement.
We must become this way with each other and then pour it out all over this city!
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Relationships that Last
Posted by: | CommentsHere is a sermon idea you can develop to encourage people to people deeper relationships with one another. You can easily find Scripture for each of the points and it is definitely needed and relevant for today’s church.
Blessings!
BUILD LOVING LASTING RELATIONSHIPS
1. Trust—When there are mistakes, we give grace and believe they are head mistakes and not heart mistakes.
2. Mutual Respect—We realize we are all made in God’s image and can be led by God’s Spirit.
3. Communication—No closed spirits or mental walls but the lines of communication are kept open.
4. Loyalty in Christ—We are warriors on the front line together and desire to protect each other.
5. Submission—All of us are people who are under authority.
6. Humility—There can be no place for pride because God resists it!
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Four Unique Ministries for Today’s Church
Posted by: | CommentsFOUR UNIQUE MINISTRIES FOR TODAY’S CHURCH
Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.
Toward the end of his first letter written his friends in Thessalonica, Paul gives in machine gun fashion a final list of exhortations for them to keep in mind as they live and minister together. In verse 14, he lists four things. I want to share that these four things represent some very unique ministry opportunities. In this day of new and dazzling changes, maybe these could be brushed up and re-presented to today’s church.
1. THE MINISTRY OF ADVANCE NOTICE (Warn the Unruly)
-Part of the ministry of the church is to help people see the consequences of wrong choices.
-Notice that Paul points out the "unruly." There is a special need to help people who begin to break the rules to understand that their choices will bring unwanted and unnecessary pain to their lives.
-All of us need someone who will do this for us when we start going astray.
-After the fact warnings do little good to help us and usually make us struggle toward those who could have helped and chose not to do so.
Illus–Former Alabama Head Coach Gene Stallings (who coached the 92 National Championship team) said that when Bear Bryant first talked to him about being an assistant for him while he was still in the State of Texas, he was informed by Bear similar to this: "Now Gene I plan on bringing you on staff to help me. If other people find out that you are coming before I make the announcement, then you aren’t coming!" Stallings commented that you can rest assurred he did not breathe a word to anyone. Bryant chose the right time and the right way to communicate simply how Stallings needed to proceed.
The rest of the scripture also lets us know that this advance notice should be done in a very respectful and loving way. The general principle is start with a soft reply; if unheeded increase volume; if still unheeded YELL!
So:
Choose the right time
Choose the right way
Leave the relationship intact
2. THE MINISTRY OF ENCOURAGEMENT (Comfort the Fainthearted)
-There is a time in all of our lives when what we need most is a simple word or act of encouragement
-Rest assured that where the Holy Spirit is allowed to work, a lot of encouragement will take place.
-Think of the times in Scripture when God says "Be of good courage."
-Some people are very gifted encouragers. Notice how people always gravitate toward them like kids to a bubble gum machine
-Fainthearted means our courage has ran away and we are struggling with moving forward. Learn to give people a verbal waterbreak with the words you speak. It is interesting that Paul realizes some people need a warning but some people just need encouraging. The discerning beleiver will know the difference. Typically the unrepentant need warning and the struggling believer just needs encouraging.
3. THE MINISTRY OF SHORING UP (Uphold the Weak)
-This is when we help people who are under more pressure than they can handle.
-Most of us have also had these times in our lives.
-You feel overwhelmed and buried by your circumstances
Illus–In construction when they dig a deep trench to install a pipeline, when the dirt walls are soft and caving in, they have to shore them up to stop potential disaster and in order to get the job done.
There are times when the church has to do this for people who are in cave-in situations.
4. THE MINISTRY OF PATIENCE (Be Patient with All)
-The is one of the primary ministries for dealing with people in general.
-It takes time to do things with people. Often you can do it alone quicker, but living your life in isolation may position you to be alone when you really do need help.
-In our fast paced western culture, we often feel we don’t have time to deal with difficult people. The result, people are thrown under the bus and we move on down the road. Is this the Jesus way? Is this how he has dealt with you?
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Discouragement — Dagger of the Soul!
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DISCOURAGEMENT–DAGGER OF THE SOUL!
A Sermon Seedbed Bible Study
Please open your Bible and read 1 Samuel 30:1-19. After you have read the passage please go through the following outline and relate each point to the passages indicated as well as what you have read. Ask the Holy Spirit to apply it to your own life and those to whom you will be teaching. People can always use encouragement.
What is discouragement? It is that defeated feeling which is present when all of your strength and courage of soul has been stolen away. You feel alone, worthless, tired, confused, and ready to give up. Discouragement is like a dagger that rips open your soul and drains it of its courage.
What is that can cause a man to be discouraged?
1. DISCOURAGEMENT CAN COME BECAUSE OF REJECTION (1 Sam. 29:6ff)
2. DISCOURAGEMENT CAN COME BECAUSE OF ANOTHER’S FAILURE TO OBEY GOD (1 Sam. 28:18) (If Saul had obeyed God, David would never have suffered this event.)
3. DISCOURAGEMENT CAN COME WHEN YOU SUFFER SOME KIND OF LOSS (city burned, wives taken,children taken)
4. DISCOURAGEMENT CAN COME WHEN YOU ARE FEELING DESPERATE (1 Sam. 30:6)
5. DISCOURAGEMENT CAN COME WHEN OTHERS ARE UPSET WITH YOU
AND BLAME YOU FOR CAUSING TROUBLE (1 Sam. 30:6)
What does it mean to encourage yourself in the Lord?
1. It means you look to God for strength
2. It means you realize that you don’t have the strength yourself
3. It means you seek God and respond to what He says.
What are the results of being encouraged in the Lord?
1. GOD GAVE DAVID A PROMISE THAT THINGS WERE GOING TO GET BETTER
2. GOD PROMISED DAVID TOTAL RECOVERY
3. GOD GAVE DAVID ASSURANCE BEFORE THE BATTLE
4. GOD SAW DAVID THROUGH THE BATTLE
5. GOD GAVE DAVID MORE THAN BEFORE
6. DAVID BELIEVED WHAT GOD TOLD HIM
7. DAVID OBEYED WHAT GOD TOLD HIM
8. DAVID FOUGHT HARD
Psalm 27: 13 [I had fainted], unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
You can defeat the dagger of discouragement with the sword of the word.
Other title ideas:
How to Get Up When You’re Down!
Who is There When Everyone has Left?
What to do When Bad Turns to Worse!
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Follow Me!
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Follow Me!
Matthew 4:19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (NKJV)
Have you ever thought about the power of these words of Jesus? Upon hearing them, his disciples walked away from everything else to follow him. Their hearts were arrested by who he was. What he said, was an invitation to learn more of who he was. Let’s look at what he said.
1. “Me” is the operative word.
-Here it is defined who we are to follow. The mandate is clear. We are to follow Christ.
-This a prohibition against following anything or anyone else. Those who lead us should be following Christ. Therefore the
march is an unbroken cadence toward our King Christ Jesus.
-There will be failures among human leaders. Where did all the disciples go who had committed to following Christ when he was being crucified. To John’s credit, he alone remained. When we follow Christ and he restores, then we see them as
restored.
-Following Christ will lead you to the cross
-Following Christ will be an endless adventure of knowing and not knowing!
2. “Make” denotes the process.
-Jesus told these guys up front I am going to enroll you in a process with a result in mind. As a coach has a purpose in all the
training he lays out for his players, so the Lord, our Coach, has a purpose in all that we go through. Even the things he does not
initiate he will use toward his goal for us.
-We all need to realize that we all are in a process. God is making something out of us. He has a purpose in all we go through.
3. “Men” are what Jesus is after.
-Jesus loves people. The process that he takes us through will result in our having his heart for broken people.
-We should not reduce what he says about making us fishers of men to a simple evangelistic strategy that he has employed.
This is far too impersonal, programmatic, and results oriented. He is saying, I came to show the Father’s heart of love for people
and if you will follow me, you will experience a transforming process that will result in you having the same heart. A heart of
redemption for people who are bruised and broken sinners. How do we know when we are gaining His heart? What is your
reaction when someone is cold toward your efforts to share Christ with them? Do you pat yourself on the back because you
fulfilled a mandate, or do you find yourself weeping for that person who has yet to know how much they are loved? It is not about
our fulfilling a program, it is about people!
Conclusion–The proof is in the pudding. These disciples followed him to their very deaths. They exhibited his heart toward lost people. They were willing to begin a revolution that changed most of what they had been taught about God. The result was they made a big catch of men. Their lives are still impacting us today.
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What Timothy Had that Everybody Needs!
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What Timothy Had that Everybody Needs!
1 Timothy 1:18 Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.
Let me personalize this and say that Timothy had and you need:
1. A Spiritually Mature Believer to Speak into Your Life
A. Timothy had a spiritual father in the ministry that cared about him.
B. Paul took the initiative to speak into Timothy’s life
C. This enabled Timothy to have someone to bounce things off
D. This enabled Timothy to be reminded of what he had been called to do
E. All of us need someone who is walking the path ahead of us whom we trust to speak into our lives who will remind us of God’s promises made to us.
2. An Accountable Relationship in Your Life
A. Timothy had to give account to Paul. We all need this.
B. This keeps us from living on an island to ourselves
C. This enables us to live in the light and share our struggles
D. Paul knew Timothy was struggling and he encouraged him
E. Accountability partners are not to be policeman but physicians
3. A Word of Destiny Over Your Life
A. Paul clearly tells Timothy that the prophetic word released into his life was a weapon he could use to win his future battles. Remember how Abraham battled with the promise God made him concerning Isaac when he offered him on Mt. Moriah. Jesus endured the cross as he looked beyond it to what he knew would be birthed. All of us should remember the promises and words that God has given us that have shifted our lives and directed us.
B. There is a place of remembrance we all need to visit in tough times. That place where God once spoke to us and sealed some things in our hearts. These times become swords in our hands to win our battles.
Conclusion—When you allow God and proven godly people to speak into your life, you assure yourself victory in your circumstances.
Other title ideas:
Three Keys to A Successful Journey!
Needed: Paul/Timothy Relationships!
Calling Spiritual Fathers and Mothers!
Whose in Your Corner?
How to Fight to Win!
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Vinegar Christians — Wineskinology 101 (Pt. 2)
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Vinegar Christians
Wineskinology 101 (Pt.2)
This is the second lesson in a series entitled Wineskinology 101 (The study of wineskins). The foundational text for this teaching is found in Matthew 9:14-16. I approached this teaching with the basics of wine making in mind:
The grape is crushed.
The juice is spilled.
Yeast is added.
The juice is put in a wineskin (container).
The contents go through fermentation.(about 6-8 weeks)
The wine is ready.
The top is removed.
The wine is poured out.
People celebrate.
I applied this to the what Jesus went through. Remember in the upper room he told them as they shared what we call the Last Supper that this (wine) represents my blood of the New Testament.
He was sinless, yet he was bruised, beaten, sliced up, trampled upon and his blood was spilled.
Then our sin (yeast) was added to him.
His body was them contained in a tomb.
All kind of shifting was taking place concerning what God was doing in the earth.
After 50 days the new wine was ready to be poured out.
On Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out. People even accused them of drinking too much.
There was a great party that started in the kingdom.
Other insights to bring out: -Jesus first miracle was turning water into wine. He saves the best wine for last. He used the ceremonial handwashing pots that contained the uncleanness of man and filled them with new wine to share with all.
-Question, Do you know what old wine is? It is new wine that was never shared. Jesus is able to make new wine with the qualities of the old wine.He does this because he wants it shared.
You will be one of the three following kinds of Christians in regard to wine and wineskins:
1. A Vinegar Christian
Vinegar is just wine that has soured. This is wine Jesus refused on the cross.Even in his crucifixion he was forgiving and helping others. The Vinegar Christian has been hurt and refuses to heal. The Vinegar Christian pours sour wine on others. It is distasteful and unwanted by most people. It may have some good in it, but you have to put up with a lot to get the benefit of the good.
2. A Victim Christian
The Victim Christian has been wounded and hurt. But because they refuse to accept repsonsibility for their own actions and reactions, they blame someone else for their issues or problems. It’s interesting that Jesus could have blamed others but he refused. Instead he forgave. Too often we try to escape having to deal with our own stuff by blaming others for what has happened to us. Even when someone else has hurt us, we choose whether we are going to heal or pass on the hurt. The cross is all about Forgiveness and new beginnings. The cross is a place of death and letting go.
3. A Victorious Christian
The Victorious Christian learns to draw from the life flow of Christ through the Holy Spirit. They walk through their season of woundedness with its pain, its tomb, its period of hiddeness and unseenness until at last resurrection power begins to work. And continuing on from there they learn to accend into the deep place of the Father’s love. It is then they are able to fully recognize the heart of the Father. Then when they pour into someone else, it is sweet wine with a full robust flavor. They are filled with overflowing joy.
Which one are you?
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