TEMPTED?

I awoke this morning practicing what I preach...lol.  The first thought to enter my mind was an invitation for the Holy Spirit to fill me, to saturate me, to overflow within me.  I prayed this prayer off and on for maybe twenty minutes as I got up, showered, and prepared my coffee.  If you were at Grace River yesterday, then you know that this is from the message that I brought from Luke 4.  Just because I'm a pastor, it doesn't mean that I don't have tough days (weeks?). Even Jesus had tough days, weeks, and months.  Jesus experience with the devil (the slanderer) in the wilderness (the alone place) reveals five types of prayer declaration that we need to include in our every day in order to overcome the devil's attacks.

 

#1--"FILL ME WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT" - As Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted, he was full of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's filling brings with it the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  It brings the power to heal the sick and to raise the dead. It brings the knowledge and understanding of God Himself--the once who created the day that we are now experiencing.  The Spirit's filling is the greatest resource that we can possess--almost as important as salvation itself.

 

#2--"I AM THE CHILD OF GOD" - The devil begins his conversation with Jesus, "If you are the Son of God...".  If?  He does the same thing with us..."If you are the child of God", "If you are loved by God", "If you are accepted and forgiven", "If you really matter".  My friends we do matter! We are children of the Most High God! We are the King's Kids!  If you are unsure of your identity, here are 40 Bible Verses to tell you: http://www.openbible.info/topics/identity.

 

#3--"IT IS WRITTEN" - Jesus responded to temptation with, "It is written..."  A verse a day keeps the devil away!  Get in the Bible! Find a reading plan on your Bible App! Dust off your printed copy and begin reading John.  Use the 40 Bible Verses on identity mentioned above. Read one each day, learn it, memorize it, declare it! 

 

#4--"I WILL WORSHIP THE LORD MY GOD" - Jesus response to the devil's suggestion that he bow down to him was simply, "You must worship the Lord your God".  We worship whatever we value. Start your day with worship expressions from your heart directed to the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit!  You will encounter names for God, revelations of His character, and descriptions of His attributes as you read the Bible. Use these biblical calls to worship to focus on declaring out-loud all that God is.

 

#5--"I TRUST GOD" - "You must not test the Lord your God", Jesus declared when it is suggested that he toss himself off of the temple in order to delivered by the angels.  No need to test God, when you trust God!  Declare it right now! "I trust God"...with my day...with my job...with my family...with my finances...with my life!

 

Friends, I'm practicing these five declarations today!  Will you join me?  Let's do it together and see what happens!  I suspect that Satan will depart until a more opportune time!  Let's chase him out of town with our declarations of faith in God!

MERCY

"But you would not have condemned those who aren't guilty if you know the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices'" (Matthew 12:7).

 

The Pharisees strongly rebuked Jesus for allowing his disciples to, in their eyes, break the law. Jesus' response was to insist that the Pharisees did not understand the heart of God. The religious have always been good, then and now, at pointing out the shortcomings in others. God, on the other hand, has always been good. Yep....He is good!

 

Today, you and I will likely face the choice of either condemning or showing mercy. We will choose either to be right or to be good.

STIRRING

"Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool which is called in Hebrew Bethesday, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted" (John 5:2-4).

 

"A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, 'Do you wish to get well?'" (John 5:5-6).

 

The word translated here as "seasons" is kairos and the word translated "time" is chronos. The lame man had been there for a great many seconds . . . minutes . . . even hours . . . a great many days, months, and, yes, years waiting for the kairos--the opportunity for healing. Today, however, the stirring would not be in the waters, it would be in the voice of Jesus asking, "Do you want to get well?" He need only enter into the kairos that Jesus was presenting.

 

Today, your kairos (your opportunity for something special to happen) may come at any time and in any form. Don't miss it just because it's inconvenient or unexpected. Even now, if you listen carefully, you may just hear the whisper of Jesus...

JESUS AND KAIROS

"After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. ² Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. ³ Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. ⁴ For no one does anything in secret ^[a]when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even His brothers were believing in Him. ⁶ So Jesus *said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. ⁸ Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee." (John 7:1-9)
 

The word, "time", found in verses 6 and 8 is the greek word "kairos". It is Spirit-time. It is the opportune time. It is the fragrance of time between the seconds on a clock face. Jesus lived his life according to "kairos"--according to the Father's timing. Jesus was not living his life according to his own timing, his brothers timing, or anyone else's timing--only the Father's timing. The invitation is for you and I to live our lives likewise--according to kairos.
 

Today, find the time (chronos) to experience kairos. Close your eyes . . . think of God's love . . . and escape the passing seconds and minutes that clutter your day.

TIMING

The New Testament was written in the Greek language and contains nuances that are not automatically captured in English. For example, there are two different words for "time" that are used in the New Testament. We use one word to convey both meanings in English. The first Greek word is "chronos" which defines time as we most often understand it: seconds, minutes, and hours.The second word is "kairos" and is a bit trickier to define. It might be easiest to think of it as hunter pulling back the string on his bow and then at just the right moment releasing the arrow. He must have good timing to hit a moving target. Kairos is also that experience of losing all sense of chronos time. It's when you are so caught up in an experience that time passes quickly without your awareness. It can also be defined as opportunity--a moment when something special can happen.

 

Sarah Ban Breathnach in her book, Simple Abundance, contrasts the two words: “Chronos is clocks, deadlines, watches, calendars, agendas, planners, schedules, beepers. Chronos is time at her worst. Chronos keeps track. ...Chronos is the world's time. Kairos is transcendence, infinity, reverence, joy, passion, love, the Sacred. Kairos is intimacy with the Real. Kairos is time at her best. ...Kairos is Spirit's time. We exist in chronos. We long for kairos. That's our duality. Chronos requires speed so that it won't be wasted. Kairos requires space so that it might be savored. We do in chronos. In kairos we're allowed to be . . . "

 

The Bible says, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16). Care to guess which word for time is used here? Yep, kairos!

 

Today there will be all kinds of kairos opportunities throughout your day. Don't miss them because you are so busy doing chronos.

Nothing to Laugh About

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14)

 

Genesis 18:14 is the Lord's respnse to Sarah's laughter. Sarah laughs when she overhears the Lord tell Abraham that she will have a baby boy in a year's time. She laughs because never before has she been able to become pregnant. She laughs because she is ninety ears old. She laughs because she is a worn-out woman who long ago gave up the dream of a baby of her own. She laughs because she has lived for years with the indignity and shame of being childless. She laughs because she is all out of tears...

 

What about you? What dream are you laughing at?

FLOODS

"But God remembered Noah and all the animals in the boat. He sent a wind to blow across the waters, and the floods began to disappear." --Genesis 8:1

 

Someone today needs to know that God is remembering you in the midst of your great flood, floating around in your little boat. It's going to be ok! You may not can see it happening, but even now the floods are starting to recede.

 

You may be encouraged by this song today: http://youtu.be/04y_KfO7GzI

REACTING

"You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it." --Genesis 4:7

 

So how do you respond when life knocks the wind out of you?...when you get less than what you think you deserve?....when friends betray?...when jobs go away?...when kids disobey? Have you ever considered the possibility that when "things going wrong" in your day (week or month) that it's a test of your emergency response system? I've found that crisis is a great revealer of who we really are. Do you get angry when you don't get your way? Then you're an angry person! Do you get depressed when friends leave you out of their plans? Then you're a depressed person. God allows crises to reveal who we are so that we can start down the path of healing. If you choose to run away and hide, then you won't get better...you'll get bitter! Sometimes we remove ourselves from the source of our discomfort only to discover that the pain was there for our gain--for our healing.

 

Sometimes people leave the church because they feel left out or they get their feelings hurt. Rest assured it happens to all of us--me too. The truth is that there is only one good reason to leave the church--That reason would be that God's Holy Spirit is drawing you on to your next assignment. A wise man once told me, "Make sure that you're running to something and not away from something!" If you're being led out--make sure that it's the Holy Spirit doing the leading and not some other spirit!

 

Today, let's choose to respond in the right way to whatever may come our way!

A WORLD WITH NO SHAME

"Now, although Adam and his wife were both naked, neither of them felt any shame." --Genesis 2:25

 

It takes a great deal of imagination for me to consider a world with no shame. I suppose that we have always known shame in our lives--at least I have. I have early recollections of being told that my actions, my feelings, my wants...were either selfish...or were misguided...or were somehow shamefully out of line. I think shame was used as a tool in my life to attempt to modify behavior and to establish compliance. I experienced shame a lot--to the point that I began to believe that I was, in and of myself, shameful. It's taken a revolution of my heart over the past few years to help me understand that I am, in essence, not shameful, but rather good--created in the image and likeness of God Himself. Transparency (nakedness) has been my road out of the valley of shame. The more I've opened up--the more I've experienced God's healing grace. Like Adam and Eve, we were all created to be naked and unashamed.

 

Perhaps this year will be the year when you gain the courage to share your secrets with a trusted friend. Over the years, I've had the role of hearing people's secrets and I can tell you that not one time have I ever received these burdens with any spirit other than the spirit of grace. No shame...just grace! Got secrets? Then you've got shame!  Isn't it time to come into the light and to discover God's glorious grace?

HOW TO HAVE A PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

"Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers. But they delight in doing everything the Lord wants; day and night they think about his law. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail. Their leaves never wither, and in all they do they prosper." --Psalm 1:2-3
 

I love the fact that the very first Psalm tells us how to have a prosperous new year! It's right there in the text, "Their leaves never wither, and in all they do they prosper." In the words that precede the promise, a formula for success is revealed:
 

Don't follow the advice of the wicked!

Don't stand around with sinners!

Don't join in with scoffers!
 

But rather...Delight in doing everything the Lord wants!
 

Day and night think about his law!
 

The best way to know what the Lord wants is to spend time thinking about his law. If you haven't yet today, then let me encourage you to find a Bible and start a reading a plan for the year. A great resource on your computer or smartphone is https://www.youversion.com/. I use "The Two Year Bible" (NLT) for my daily reading plan. It doesn't matter the translation or the plan or whether you use a book or an electronic device--just get in the word! Think about His words--and do what He says! God promises that you will prosper! As I shared on Sunday, Jesus says, "He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst" (JN 6:35).

PRAYER

"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." --1 Timothy 2:1-2

 

As God's children, we are commanded to pray for our governmental leaders, "all men, for kings and all who are in authority". And before we throw a quick prayer up, notice that the verse tells us exactly how to pray. Four specific words are used:

 

Entreaties: to ask God to meet a specific need. We are to ask God to meet the needs that exist in our country as well as needs that exist in our leaders--from the president all the way down to the dog catcher.

 

Prayers: to address God. The word is often used in the Bible to refer to public prayer--prayers that we pray outloud in a group. We do not merely pray for our president from our prayer closet, but we also look for opportunity to publicly pray for our leaders.

 

Petitions: to meet with God. This is where you get to voice your concerns, your disappointments, your hopes and your fears. This is you and God sitting down at the conference table to take care of business.

 

Thanksgivings: to be grateful to God. Our prayers are to be marked by a spirit of thanksgiving--grateful that God is for us and not against us--that He is causing all things to work together for our benefit--that though we may see darkness, joy comes in the morning.

 

This verse promises a preferred future as a result of our praying, "a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity". Are you feeling stressed today? worried? despairing? Your peace awaits you as you begin to pray for our president!

AUTHORITY

"Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves." --Romans 13:1-2

 

A couple of things to keep in mind from these verses as we approach the presidential election tomorrow: #1 All authority begins with God; #2 Goverment gets it's authority from God; #3 We are to be in subjection (proper order) to governing authorities; #4 To resist authority is to resist God.

 

Regardless of the election's outcome, we are to get in line behind the one elected. The only exception would be if government compels us to forsake the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Either way, today and tomorrow should be about praying and voting (in that order).

PRIDE

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling" (Proverbs 16:18).
 

God loves us enough to crush our arrogant spirits. Our pride will lead us into trouble, into disaster, and even into death. Therefore, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (Proverbs 3;34). What you do today, and more importantly, how you do it, will either be blessed by God or will be opposed by Him. It matters!
 

Our pride is displayed in at least three ways:
 

Independence vs Dependence - Independence is a great virtue of our country (especially in the West). God however, wants us to learn to depend upon Him for our every need. Trusting in ourselves is just as much idolatry as trusting in an idol. How can you demonstrate dependence upon God today, resisting independent attitudes and actions?
 

Speaking vs Listening - Speaking is an indication of pride. The humble spend more time listening and learning and less time trying to be heard. Listening is perhaps one of the most difficult virtues to practice. Today, see if you can be quiet a little more than normal. Listen!
 

Works vs Grace - We generally affirm our value by the work of our hands. What do we do? Grace is resting in the work that God has already accomplished instead of feeling the need to do something in order to justify our existence. There is nothing wrong with working--just do it graciously!
 

Would you be so brave as to ask God to give you a heart of humility today?

PRIDE

"When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom" (Proverbs 11:2).
 

The Bible uses five different words to convey the idea of pride and arrogance. I bet that, like me, you have lived out every one of them...lol.
 

Here are the five meanings:
 

#1--Puffed up. To wrap in mist or to raise smoke. An early morning fog covers everything and looks immense, but it really only contains a very small amount of water.

#2--Inflated estimate of self. To look down on others. We can easily deceive ourselves into believing that we are more than we really are.

#3--Empty presumptive trust in the untrustworthy.

#4--A swelling of the sea.

#5--Presumption.
 

Now to be clear, God would have us not live out any of these definitions. Augustine said, "It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels." Our pride does not accomplish the will of God--rather, it puts us on a collision course with God. It is humility that places us in a position to receive God's rescue and blessing.
 

Let's keep an eye on our attitudes today and as often as possible, let's move from pride to humility.

PRIDE

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything, all pride, all fear of failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important" --Steve Jobs
 

"About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill. He prayed to the Lord, who healed him and gave him a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah did not respond appropriately to the kindness shown him, and he became proud. So the Lord's anger came against him and against Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself and repented of his pride, as did the people of Jerusalem. So the Lord's anger did not fall on them during Hezekiah's lifetime" (2 Chronicles 32:24-26).
 

No doubt about it, pride is a game-changer, not unlike death. I've experienced two catastrophic failures in my life, where God reached in crushed my pride. Through these experiences I've learned that my plans usually lead to death (crushing humility) and God's plans lead to life (fulfillment). The Bible promises, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you" (James 4:10). 
 

As we begin a new day and a new week, let me suggest that we all look for ways to humble ourselves--to think of others as better than ourselves. Let's allow, as Steve Jobs discovered, "all pride, all fear of failure" to just fall away. When you're tempted today to "exalt yourself", just let it go...

BELIEF

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24).

 

Jesus says that it is absolutely essential to believe in God (the one who sent Him).  It is the only way to experience eternal life!  The word, "believe", means to trust, to put one's confidence in something or someone.  It is more than just intellectual assent.  It is the placing of our life in God's hands.  Here's a great way to discover what you are putting your trust in: Who do you run to when you are in a crisis?  A Friend, a family member, yourself?

 

Today, should you experience a need, before you do anything else, take your need to God.  Then wait on Him to respond.

LISTEN

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24).

 

According to Jesus in John 5:24, there are two conditions for eternal life: #1 hearing Jesus' word and #2 believing the One who sent Him.  Let's take the first one today--hearing Jesus' word.  The very beginning of John's gospel describes Jesus as "the Word".  "In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:1-3).  The Word is not just something to hear--but it is something to see, something to feel, and something to experience.  You are one of the "all things" that came into being through Him!

 

Today, let me encourage you to spend some time with the Word.  Start at the beginning and reread John's Gospel listening to what Jesus is saying.  As you walk around today, look for Jesus at work around you.  Invite Him to permeate your life throughout the day--to make Himself obvious.  If you ask to experience Jesus today--I have no doubt that you will!

DOUBT

"And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:58).

 

Is it possible that our doubt prevents Jesus from working?  Are there miracles that Jesus intends to accomplish that don't happen simply because we don't believe that they will?  I'm convinced that one of the biggest obstacles to healing that we face is transforming our minds from doubt to belief.  Yesterday at Grace River we saw a miracle.  Before the service, Judy told me that she had extreme pain in her back and that the only reason she came to church was because we were teaching on healing and she believed that God would heal her.  Well, He did!  During the worship and during the message, God completely removed the back pain to the point that Judy was able to touch her toes demonstrating the healing to us all. Faith (belief) is the first finger on the "Hand that Heals".

 

Today, constantly remind yourself that our God is a God who heals.  It's His nature to heal!  It's unusual when He doesn't heal!  One of His names is Jehovah Rapha  -  יהוה רפא   - "The God Who Heals".

HARVEST

"Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together" (John 4:36).

 

There are three promises that are listed here--promises for us when we join Jesus in His work of harvesting. #1--WAGES: Jesus pays His employees and you can expect that you will be well-compensated for your work.  #2--FRUIT:  There is not much in this world that you can take with you to heaven but Jesus promises that the people we bring to Jesus will live forever with us in Heaven.  #3--CELEBRATION:  There is ecstatic joy in the in the Kingdom when even one comes to faith (See Luke 15:10).

 

There is no doubt that today each of us will come in contact with someone that Jesus is drawing to Himself.  Join Him in the harvest!

HARVEST

"Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest" (John 4:35).

 

We have seen in these days at Grace River that God is drawing many new people our way.  There is no shortage of broken and hurting people and God seems to be guiding many to Grace River.  Our mission is to be a safe place where anyone can come as they are and find hope and healing.  Jesus' mission is to reach broken people and then heal them.  Our mission is to join Jesus in His mission.

 

Today, let's be aware that there are broken people all around us.  Look for them, find them, and bring them on Sunday to Grace River.