Grace Continues to Work in You

Grace!  We’ve all heard of Grace, right?  That word grace can be defined as undeserved mercy.  Here’s an example:

Someone steals from you.  The theft not only takes something of value from you, but maybe you have a sentimental attachment to that thing.  Maybe your deceased father gave it to you. So, it’s not just that you lost something, you lost something that has value for you, beyond the monetary value.  The person gets caught, returns the item to you and asks you for forgiveness.  There are two things you can do.  You can send them to jail or you can forgive and go on.

Forgiving and moving on is grace.  The thief doesn’t deserve it, but you grant it anyway.  That’s grace – That’s what Jesus did.  While we were sinners, He came and died for us, so that we wouldn’t have to suffer God’s wrath.  We didn’t deserve it…but He did it anyway.  God’s grace.

My question for today is this:  Did His grace stop there?  Is His grace life-changing?  His mercy was; I’m not the same since I got saved.  But can grace change you?  That’s what I want to look at today.

1 Peter 5:10 (NKJV)
^5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

The God of All Grace

So God is the God of all grace.  He has called us to eternal glory.  You know, God could have just written us off.  After Adam sinned He could’ve said, “That’s it, I’m done with these people,” and just written us of, but He didn’t.  In fact, He had a plan to bring us back to Him; back to eternal glory, which is Eternal Life with Him in Heaven.  The plan was Jesus Christ:  Who would come and pay the penalty that we should have to pay.  Look:

Romans 5:12 (NKJV)
^5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

Adam’s sin spread to all of us, because we have all sinned.  So, we have a penalty to pay – The penalty is death.  We will all die, but there is a gift:

Romans 5:15 (NKJV)
^5:15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

The grace of God and Jesus’ grace are gifts that come to all who receive them.  After all, a gift is only a gift if you receive it, right.

Romans 5:18-19 (NKJV)
^5:18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.

That gift of righteousness makes us right with God and:

Romans 5:21 (NKJV)
^5:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Adam’s sin resulted in the sin of mankind.  Sin became a part of our nature and we all deserved death.  But Jesus came and paid that price for us, even though we didn’t deserve it; undeserved mercy.  It makes us innocent, that’s what justified means.  This is a picture of the grace of God.

There is one other thing I want you to consider here.  God created the Garden of Eden and put Adam there.  He met every need that man would have in the Garden; a place to live, food, meaning and purpose (through the job given to him), companionship and his spiritual need.  God walked with Adam in the cool of the Garden.  They had a personal relationship.  God cared about Adam’s needs – He took care of him.  He walked with him – Spoke to him.  God is a personal God; an emotional God.  He loves us.

1 John 3:1a (NKJV)
^3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

He created us to have fellowship with Him, so we are also able to have that kind of relationship with Him.  We are the children of God.  God is a personal God, not a mysterious hidden deity.  He cares about our needs.  He cares about our suffering, in the same way a father cares about his children. 

In our text, He warns us that we will suffer for a while, but that He is in control and can use that suffering to do a work in us – To perfect us, establish us, strengthen us and settle us.  So, the grace of the cross didn’t end there.  Grace is ongoing.  God still works in us.  We are made better through suffering.  We’re not just suffering for suffering’s sake.  There is a purpose in our suffering. 

This is why I feel sorry for atheists.  For them all of life is futile.  You’re born into a hostile world.  You suffer all kinds of troubles and pain.  Then you die, never knowing the comfort of God’s grace.  There’s no meaning and purpose to life.  There’s nothing to look forward to.  There no hope of anything better.  What a bummer to think that life here, with all of its suffering, is the best life there is.  No wonder that so many people that don’t know God commit suicide.  There’s no real purpose to life outside of God’s grace.  It’s just one struggle after another.

God’s Grace Extends Throughout our Lives

His grace continues, even after we get saved.  It’s not just limited to what Jesus did for us.  Look at the second part of our text:

 1 Peter 5:10b (NKJV)
^5:10 …after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

I want to elaborate on what I said earlier, He uses our suffering to do a work in us.  

He perfects us – That word perfect means to thoroughly complete us.  This life is a training program; a preparation.  He’s making us ready for eternal life.  He’s working out all of the bad things in us; the selfishness – attitudes; the bitterness – bigotry, anger, and impatience, all the things that make us imperfect humans. 

God knows that we all have some of those things in us.  He uses our suffering to work those things out of us, to perfect us.  That’s how He makes us ready for Heaven.  In modern times, we use that word perfect to mean without flaws.  That’s what God is doing in completing us, taking out the imperfections and flaws.

He establishes us – That word establish means to set fast; to make permanent.  Another way to say it would be, to make it solid.  Sometimes, people have so much trouble serving God:  They’re in, they’re out.  One day, they’re sacrificing for the will of God, another day they can’t even come to church once a week.  They’re not solid, they’re not set fast.  When things go well they praise God; when things go badly they can’t even pray.  Our text tells though, that we suffer a while and God does a work in us.   That suffering can make us solid in the things of God, because when we get to a place where we can do nothing to solve or alleviate the suffering on our own, we have to turn it over to God.  It’s impossible for us.

They say there are no atheists in foxholes.  When the bombs are falling there’s nothing you can do to change the situation…except pray.  Life is like that.  We all encounter situations that we can’t change except by answered prayer.  That’s how we learn that we can trust God.  We realize that without Him life is pretty bleak, so we become less wishy-washy with our faith.  He establishes us in that faith.

He strengthens us – He strengthens our spiritual knowledge and power.  When things get really ugly in the world what do we do?  When we find out we have an incurable disease, or lose a loved one, or our job disappears?  When life gets really bad, what do we do?  Most of us pray.  Most of us want to draw nearer to God. 

Do you know that most people get saved in times of struggle and turmoil in their lives?  People want to come before God with their problems and plead for help. “Oh help me, God, help me!”  We begin to interact with God.  We improve our relationship with God.  We start to read our Bibles to find answers. 

By reading our Bibles we learn more about God:  Who He is and how he works in our lives.  Our knowledge of God increases.  By praying we are able to tap into the power of God.  We become stronger in those things.  Our relationship with God is strengthened.

Finally, He settles us.  He settles us in the sense of settling the frontier.  He builds something in us.  We become more grounded.  We’re not so easily moved.  We’re not so anxious  and worried over circumstances.  We trust God for his grace.  We know that He will come through.

People that are worldly live in fear a lot.
  

“What of this good thing doesn’t happen.”
“What of this bad thing does happen?”
“What will I do?”  

People get ulcers.  People have anxiety attacks, nervous breakdowns; go to psychiatrists, or just plain freak out.  Some of you may be able to see yourself in that.

We can trust in God to see us through.  That’s the faith part of the Christian lifestyle.  God’s grace is ongoing throughout our salvation. It doesn’t stop.  God is with us all the way through.

That’s How God’s Grace Helps us

We are so lucky to have found Jesus, but we have to be careful, because we sometimes take grace for granted.  We think that because His grace always works in us that we won’t suffer the judgment of sin.  We think thatwe can do whatever we want, but look:

 Romans 6:1-2 (NKJV)
^6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

We need to walk away from sin and allow God’s grace to work in us to do those things that we have just spent all this time talking about

Let Him PERFECT you!

Let Him ESTABLISH you.

Let Him STRENGTHEN and SETTLE you.

Are You Converted?

All of us have come from one thing or another.  As a child I was raised as a Catholic.  I went to a Catholic school.  I attended the Catholic Church.  I was taught Catholic values. 

Maybe you were a Buddhist or a Taoist; maybe you practiced Yi Guang Dao, or maybe you were a Muslim, or even an Atheist.  You didn’t believe in God at all, but now you do:  You’ve become a Christian.  You’re no longer involved in what you were doing before.  We would say you were converted, but I have to tell you that just changing religions is not conversion.  For a conversion to take place your life must be transformed.  You don’t think the way you did before.  You don’t speak the way you did before.  You don’t act the way you did before.  That’s conversion.

Acts 9:1-7 (NKJV)
^9:1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ² and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. ⁴ Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" ⁵ And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads." ⁶ So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." ⁷ And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.

Saul Was Who He Was

So, here we have Saul; he’s a persecutor of the church.  Remember, in Acts chapter 8 he stood by while Stephen was stoned.  He held the coats of those who stoned Stephen.  He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees; a teacher of teachers and led a great persecution against the early church.  His attacks caused Christians to leave Jerusalem and scatter throughout the world, but he wasn’t satisfied with just that.  He asked the High Priest to give him authority to travel to Damascus to persecute them there. 

He was breathing threats and murder against the disciples.  Can you picture this?  He had a great hatred toward them.  He was consumed with zeal to destroy Christianity itself…But along the road to Damascus, Jesus confronts Saul and asks him, “Why are you persecuting me?” 

There is a struggle that’s taking place within Saul.  It’s like he’s fighting within himself about things.  When Jesus confronts him He tells Saul, “It’s not easy to kick against the goads.”  This is a word picture – A goad is something that is used to move an animal.  It urges or stimulates and action.  Saul is urged into what he’s doing by a force that’s inside him.  He’s driven to persecute, but Jesus seems to be saying that Saul has been struggling against it…kicking against the goads.

I believe that when we’re sinners, there’s turmoil in all of us.  We’re all seeking God, but since we continue in sin, we feel bad, so rather than change we attack those who’ve already changed.  We’re driven by our sinful nature. 

Suddenly, Saul finds himself face-to-face with the risen Jesus.  This isn’t a vision but a face-to-face encounter.  Look how Saul describes it later:

1 Corinthians 9:1 (NKJV)
^9:1 Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

“Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?”  Jesus met him there at the Damascus road and changed him forever.  Saul the persecutor became Paul the Apostle.  He no longer zealously persecuted Christians.  Now, he zealously preached the Gospel.  There was a remarkable change in him, as a result of his meeting Jesus – This is conversion.

Conversion comes from an encounter with Jesus.  There are people who come to church, but they continue to live the same way that they lived as sinners.  They continue in sin, there’s no change.  There’s no evidence that they’ve been saved.  That word “convert” means to change form; to go from one thing to another.  If there’s no change there’s no conversion.  There must be a change in thought AND action.  Saul’s name change to Paul symbolizes that change.

Paul Had a Testimony

Paul was completely changed in his meeting with Jesus.  He was one way before he met Jesus but was a completely different person afterward.  You can see that this moment of conversion takes place while he is still in Jesus’ presence.  He calls Him Lord, “Who are you Lord?”  The he acknowledges Jesus as Lord over his life, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”  What are you calling me to?  What is the need you have for me? 

Jesus told him to go into the city and he would be told what to do.  He obeyed and went into Damascus and was filled with the Holy Spirit and the Bible says he began immediately to preach in the synagogues.

Acts 9:20-22 (NKJV)
^9:20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. ²¹ Then all who heard were amazed, and said, "Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?" ²² But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

This is the testimony – He was a persecutor and insolent man.  He had gone to Damascus to bring them bound to Jerusalem, but now he’s preaching Jesus; even proving that Jesus is the Christ.

What happened to you when you became a Christian?  Did your thinking change?  Do you think about sin differently?  Have you laid aside your sin?  Do you continue in it?  Is there evidence in your life that you’ve been converted?  The sad thing is that there are people in churches all over the world that have never experienced a conversion.  They remain stuck in their sin.  They continue in bondage.  There’s no evidence that they’ve really met Jesus.  They have no testimony of God’s grace on their lives.  It’s God’s grace that changes us.  Look at this:

1 Corinthians 15:8-10 (NKJV)
^15:8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

This is Paul writing to the Corinthians.  He’s commenting about his testimony.  He’s writing about the power of the Gospel. 

What we do after we’ve been converted is the result of God’s grace working in our lives.  What Paul is saying here is:  I’ve stopped sinning because of God’s grace giving me the strength to make a decision to live for Him.  I preach the Gospel because of God’s grace, having caused a change in my life; I can’t help but declare the mercy that was extended to me.

As we’re converted and God’s grace works in us it’s natural for us to want to share it.  I want to see God work in other people’s lives like He worked in mine.  I want to share the power of God to change circumstances and lives like he’s done for me.

1 Timothy 1:12-14 (NKJV)
^1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, ¹³ although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Paul immediately preached Jesus.  He didn’t wait until he understood everything about Jesus.  He declared what God did in him through grace.  There are people who’ve prayed the Sinner’s Prayer, but they’ve never been fully converted.  They’re still bound by the sin they were bound with and I really can’t understand it.  Getting saved is being BORN AGAIN:  It’s a new life; a second chance.  Why would you want to bring the old life into the new one?

Maybe it’s because I was so desperate for a change that I couldn’t remain the same way I was.  I’m so thankful for what Jesus has done in me!  That’s how grace works in you.  Paul changed because of the miracle that God did in him.  He couldn’t remain silent.  I can’t remain silent, either, and that’s also evidence of my conversion.

Paul Began to Live Out the Calling on his Life

In the middle of his conversion Paul asked Jesus, “What do you want me to do, Lord?”  He’s looking for God’s calling on his life.  He’s ready to die to his own will and take up Jesus’ will for his life.  That is absolute evidence of his conversion.  Look at what Jesus says:

Matthew 16:24-25 (NKJV)
^16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

This is the mark of a converted Christian.  That word Christian means “Follower of Christ.”  We have no problem following Jesus when He’s going to the place WE want to go, a truly converted Christian, is one who’s willingly following Jesus to a place where he DOESN’T want to go.

Take a look at your own life.  Think about your Christian walk.  Are you calling Jesus Lord?  Have you acknowledged Jesus as authority over your life? 

Do you have a testimony?  Is there a change that has taken place in you as a result of God’s grace?

Are you preaching Jesus?  Do you tell others about what Jesus did in you and can do in them?

Are you denying your will?  Are you following Jesus to the place He wants you to go?

If you can’t answer yes to those questions, then you’ve never really met Jesus, but don’t despair.  He’s waiting for you on your own Damascus road.  You can meet him today and be converted in a moment of time.  Paul’s conversion only took a few moments.  Some people think they have to watch Him for years, follow some ritual, or change before they meet Him.  All it really takes is an openness to His calling on your life – And He is calling.  If you haven’t done so already, then answer the call, today and let His grace work in you.

Do you Believe?

Recently, we have seen, in the Middle East that a number of Christians have been, martyred. Men have knelt before their persecutors and without resistance allowed their throats to be cut.  Why would they do that? They were given a choice between renouncing their faith and converting to Islam, or dying.

They had to BELIEVE that Jesus was who He said He was!  They had to believe that the cross, that bloodstained cross really is the instrument of their redemption.  That’s the only way they could lay down their lives for what, to many has become just a symbol; a piece of jewelry.

Today, in this post I want to put that question to you.  Do YOU believe?  Is the cross just a symbol or is it the power of God? 

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV)
^2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

The Eloquence of the Cross

This is a question that all Christians should ask themselves:  Do I believe? – Do I really believe?

I know some salesmen.  They’re really good salesmen; they could sell ice cubes to Eskimos.  They know the right words to say to influence you to agree.  I also know the key to being a good salesman.  You have to believe in your product.  You have to believe that what you’re selling is the very best of that type of that product.  Do you want somebody to buy your product?  Then make sure it’s a product that you would want to buy.  The very best way though, is to demonstrate how good it is. 

As Christians we want to tell people about Jesus, and we think we have to be salesmen:  That we need to speak eloquently about Him:  That our words need to be persuasive, but I want you to know that the cross speaks for itself.  Look at what Paul said, “I did not come with excellence of speech…”  Paul did have that eloquence in his words.  He didn’t have his “salesman patter” down. He said, “[I came] in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”

So, I was thinking about this.  What is a demonstration of the Spirit and of power?  Isn’t one of the ways we demonstrate through how our lives are led.   It’s in how we live.  It’s in making our lives a reflection of Jesus’ life.  It’s in other people seeing how redemption works in us.  That’s the eloquence of the cross.

How is redemption seen in your life?  I’ve been giving this a lot of thought lately.  I know what God has done in me.  I’ve shared my testimony.  I went from a horrible messed up life to what I have now.  I’m a different person than I was.  It was a dramatic change, but not everyone can relate to that.  Some people, their testimony is, “Before I got saved, I was a decent, honest person, now I’m a decent, honest person who knows Jesus Christ.”  So, how can you demonstrate the Spirit and power?  You can do that by showing the same redemptive power that you have received to other people:  through forgiveness, through selflessness and through unmerited kindness.  You’re kind to people who don’t deserve your kindness.  All of those things Jesus did on the cross.  He forgave sin – all of us have sinned, even the decent, honest ones.  He GAVE his life – His life wasn’t taken from Him – selflessly for us sinners, and enemies of God. 

Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
^5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He did that, even though we put Him on the cross.  Even though we didn’t deserve His kindness.  Even though we rejected Him and put Him on the cross.  He went there for us, for our redemption.  That was His purpose on the earth. That was the purpose of the cross – REDEMPTION!

1 Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)
^1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Paul said that Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  That was his whole reason for being here – redemption.  Paul brings that redemption down to a personal level, by saying, “of whom I’m chief,” He’s saying, He died for sinners; sinners like me!”  Paul says, "Jesus died for me!"

1 Timothy 1:16 (NKJV)
^1:16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

I obtained mercy – As a pattern for those who come after me.  That’s the pattern we should follow, “showing all long-suffering.”   Like Jesus did for Paul.  When we act like Jesus in all long-suffering and forgiveness others can see power of redemption.  That’s the eloquence of the cross.

The Value of Human Life

Recently, a number of videos have been released about Planned Parenthood.  These videos show Planned Parenthood selling the bodies of the children whom they have aborted.  As I watched the videos I was struck by the callousness of the women in the videos, haggling over the price of these innocent human beings’ bodies.  One woman is carelessly eating her lunch as she discusses the best way to remove the body, kill the baby and preserve the organs intact.  Another woman while negotiating the price of each body, looking for the maximum financial benefit says, “I want to drive a Lamborghini.”  It sickened me that they were talking about human beings' bodies as if they only had a financial value.  Look at what was paid for us.  Look at the ransom that had to be paid for our sin; my sin, your sin.  It had to be purchased; a price had to be paid.   Do you know the price that was negotiated for each aborted baby’s body?  $100 USD.  That was the negotiated price, but do you know what price was paid for each of us?  The blood of Jesus – God – spilled on the cross. 

Jesus suffered the most gruesome death ever devised by man when He suffered and died that day.  The thing that’s so powerful about that is that it was personal – He died for us all – individually, like Paul said.  Jesus didn’t die for an ideal, He died for you and I, personally.  If you were the only person who ever lived; if you were alone on this earth, He would have come and died just for you!  What’s the value of a human being?  To the ghouls at Planned Parenthood its $100 USD but to Christians it is the life that was given for us. 

Our lives have value, our God was willing to sacrifice for us, but what does that mean for us?  When we look at other people; homeless people, people from other nations, people of other races, when we look at them what are they worth to us?  Do we see a value in them?  Do we feel compassion for them?  That same blood was spilled for them.

What about those who’ve mistreated us?  Those who have hurt us?  They’ve gossiped or slandered us.  They’ve cheated us in business.  They’ve persecuted us.  Can we be compassionate to them?  Can we forgive them like Jesus did?  That’s really the whole question of this post.  Can WE show the long-suffering and redemptive power of Christ?  We are called to be like Christ, even when it’s hard.

Matthew 5:44-45 (NKJV)
^5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

That's what Jesus meant when He said, "Take up your cross and follow me."

Do You Really Believe?

That brings me back to my original question, “Do you really believe?”  The cross isn’t just a necklace or a pair of earrings.  The cross isn’t just to mark the location of a church.  These days the cross is cleaned up.  It’s a hip fashion accessory.  It’s just another symbol in today’s society.

And the message of the cross has been watered down:  Not too much sacrifice, the prosperity doctrine, anything goes grace, but that’s not what the cross is.  The cross is rough – It tore into His flesh.  The cross is bloody – He spilled His blood there and the cross is the price of Redemption.  It’s the work that He did to buy us back into a relationship with God.  He paid that price so we don’t have to. 

He left us with the work of the cross; to present it to others, so that they can be redeemed.  But we can’t or won’t do that unless we truly believe it.  It’s the message of God’s love for us.  It’s the message of God’s grace and long-suffering.  It’s the message of mercy.

We can bring that message to others if we truly believe what God did for us.  If we truly believe that the sin has been taken, then we can face death without fear.

That’s how the Christians in the Middle East can face martyrdom for Jesus.  That’s how a group of church leaders in North Carolina can forgive the murderer of nine of their church members.  That’s how a young woman can face her classmate as he held a gun to her head and asked, “Do you believe in Jesus?” knowing what was coming, look him calmly in the face and say “Yes.”   They believe; they REALLY believe.

I hope none of us will ever have to make choices like these.  I pray that none of us ever has to face anything like that, but I believe that society is polarized and soon we’re going to have to make a choice.  It’s prophecy.  It will come to a choice.  I think in America that time is close, and it will come to Taiwan, too.  Now more than ever we have to be sure of what we believe. 

Do you REALLY believe the message of the cross?  Can you model redemption in your life?  So that others will desire it?  Can you reflect the mercy of Christ and demonstrate the selflessness of Christ?  Can you find hope and strength in what Jesus did on the cross:  The hope of a better world with Him; the hope of Eternal life; the strength to accept persecution?  Do you believe in the cross – The bloodstained cross?

The God of Location

I believe that God put me into the best place for me when he placed me into my home church.  My pastor could relate to me.  He had similar business experiences.  He was able to talk to me on a scientific and on a business level, and he could relate to me as a person.  I had met a lot of other pastors nearby but there was never the same level of relationship.

If you’re a part of my congregation you’ve heard me say this a million times:  God has a plan your life.  One thing that you may not realize, though, is that God’s plan includes a location.  Where you are is as important as what you do in God’s plan. Location is important to God.  If you study your Bible you can find a number of places where God has brought things back to one location.

In this post I want to examine the importance of location to God.  God is a God of Location.  In order to do that I want to use the following scripture as a “jumping off’ point.

Genesis 22:2 (NKJV)
^22:2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

God Uses Places

This is the moment when God is testing Abraham’s faith.  He sends him to Mount Moriah to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering.  He’s looking for Abraham’s faith. 

Later in Israel’s history David numbers the people of Israel and God judges that and sends the Angel of Death.  David builds an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 

1 Chronicles 21:26-28 (NKJV)
^21:26 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ So the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath. ²⁸ At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.

God heard from David on the threshing floor and stopped the judgment, but look at this:

2 Chronicles 3:1 (NKJV)
^3:1 Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Look at where the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite was, it was on Mount Moriah; The same place that God sent Abraham to offer Isaac.  God called Abraham and provided a ram at this place.  He answered David’s prayer at this same place.  Finally, He had Solomon build the temple on the same mountain.

This is not the only time that God did this:

Exodus 3:1 (NKJV)
^3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

God called on Moses to deliver His people, you know the story.  Moses was out tending sheep and God called him to the burning bush.  The scriptures tell us that that the place where the burning bush was located was called Horeb, the Mountain of God.  After Moses delivers the people they come to Mount Sinai.  Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb are the same place.  God meets again with Moses on that same place. 

Exodus 3:4-6 (NKJV)
^3:4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." ⁵ Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." ⁶ Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

This is the same place where God met with Moses and gave him the law.  It is also the place where God passed by and revealed Himself to Moses. 

Later, Elijah has just destroyed the priests of Baal and he’s hiding from Jezebel in the wilderness and God sends an Angel and tells him to go to a place:

1 Kings 19:8 (NKJV)
^19:8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

So, here are two places that keep recurring in God’s history:  Mount Moriah and Mount Horeb (Sinai).  God has used these two locations.  At Mount Moriah he responded to needs.  He met Abraham’s need for a substitute offering for Isaac, and he met David’s need for an end to the plague judgment.  At Mount Horeb, he revealed Himself to both Moses and Elijah. 

There were other places as well.  There’s Bethel where God promised Abraham a land for his descendants.  Later, he reiterated that promise to Jacob, also at Bethel.  There’s something about location that’s important to God. 

He had a specific place in mind for His people.  There was “Promised Land.”  The Promised land was a specific piece of real estate.  God even went so far as to outline the specific borders of the land. 

Prophecies were often specific with regard to a location where something would take place.  It was prophesied that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, specifically. The prophets named a location.

God has plans for our lives.  He has a plan for each of us, and our locations are a part of His plan.  There have been a number of times that evangelists have come to preach here and they’ve called out my daughters and told them, “being in Taiwan is tied to your destiny.”  In other words, God sent them here for a reason.  It is a part of His plan for their lives.

A plan is like a blueprint for a building.  A blueprint for a building is designed around the place where the building will be built.  The location is of prime importance when you’re developing a plan for a building.  I believe the same is the when designing a plan for our lives.  The place where God brought you to salvation is the location for God’s plan to be developed in your life.

When we were first pioneering the church I pastored in Riverside, a woman came to the church service.  This was very early in the church’s history.  So early, in fact, that my family were the only people there.  At first, she was very uncomfortable and told me that she was there by accident.  I told her that I believe that there are no accidents; God brought here to that place as the beginning of His plan for her.  God brought you to your church as well; it is the beginning of His plan for you.

Where We are is as Important as What We Do

Psalms 37:23 (NKJV)
^37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.

George Mueller once said, “The steps of a good man are ordered and the stops as well.”

What does that mean; the steps of a man are ordered?  That means that God has planned the steps of His will for you.  God has a plan and a purpose and He has set you in motion and guided you along the path that leads to His will.  The PLACE where He draws you to serve Him is part of His plan for you.  It’s part of His ordering your steps.

Think of it like this:  You’re going to take a journey and you get out a map and you trace the roads on which you’ll be traveling.  Planning where you will stop each night is an important part of the planning.

God has placed you on a journey called “His will” and He has planned out the road you’ll take.  He’s also planned the place you’ll start from and where you’ll stop along the way.  

God puts you in a place to facilitate His plan for your life.  So making a decision to leave that place must be based on God’s will.  It should be done prayerfully, not in anger, not in saying, “God made a mistake.”   God placed you in your place for a reason. What happens, though, is that as we age in our salvation we begin to think that we understand more about God and His will and we begin to make decisions that WE think are God’s will, but they’re really our OWN thoughts.  I believe that God placed you in that church for His reasons:  That God has a plan for you that includes being in that place.

People will often come to me and tell me, “I’m going to do this,” or, “I’m going to do that.”  They’re not asking me for input, they’ve already made up their mind.  Often, I can see that what they’re doing is outside of God’s will.  I can’t say anything that’s going to change their mind, so they turn around and say, “Pastor gave my decision his blessing.”  It’s not what I think that’s important, it’s what God thinks.  It’s not my plan that’s being frustrated; it’s God’s plan. 

I got saved in Colton, California.  As a person who lived and did business in the area, I had no love for that city.  The city leaders at the time were notoriously corrupt.  There was a lot of gang violence and other things.  I had always said I would never live in that city…but then I got saved there.  I gave myself to God’s plan for my life.  I DECIDED that I would serve God in that place and do whatever it was that God had for me.  I even moved to Colton and lived there for a number of years.  God’s plan moved forward in my life.

Colton was the place where God’s plan for my life unfolded and eventually led me to Taiwan to preach the Gospel.  I’ve been out preaching for almost 15 years, but I’m still connected to that same pastor and congregation, where I got saved.  My ministry is really an extension of my pastor’s.  He is still intimately involved in my life.  That’s how the plan of God is facilitated in my life.  God has led me to Taiwan, but the journey started in Colton.

I often see people going from church to church, visiting here and there, but there isn’t anything that they’re doing for God.  They are looking for something that caters to their needs; their plan.  They aren’t growing; they aren’t grabbing hold of God’s will, because God’s plan is rooted in the place that He put them.  If you are thinking about moving on from your church, you need to think long and hard about it.  You need to carefully pray about it, because God has a plan for you and LOCATION is a part of that plan.

Locking into the Location of God’s Will

I had rather be in the heart of Africa in the will of God than on the throne of England out of the will of God.  David Livingstone

Why do you think God sent you to the place He sent you?  This is an important question, “Why did God choose that church for you to be saved, or to be a part of?”  God has a plan for your church, as well as for your life.  The steps of the church are also ordered by God, and part of God’s plan for the church is YOU.  Look at this scripture:

Romans 12:3-8 (NKJV)
^12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. ⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

God knows the needs of the church.  He knows that the pastor doesn’t have all of the abilities that are needed to move His plan forward.  He sets you together so that the pastor can use your strengths and you can use his:  So that your pastor can replace your weaknesses with his strengths and you can replace ypur pastor's weaknesses with your strengths. 

Even more importantly, some people are sitting back and not using their gifts to move God’s will; to move God’s plan forward.  Some people are sitting on their hands saying someone else will do it:  Someone else will fill in the gaps, but that’s not God’s plan.  You are needed to be in your place and participate with your strengths.  God needs you to answer His call on your life.

All of the men I mentioned in the first part of this post were in their place and responded to God’s “steps.”

1. Abraham took Isaac to Mount Moriah.
2. Moses answered the burning bush in the same place.
3. David pleaded with God on Ornan’s threshing floor.
4. Solomon built the temple in that same place.
5. Moses met with God at Mount Sinai.
6. Elijah saw God on the same mountain.

God called them to those places, the men responded and did what was asked of them.  God has that same expectation for us as well.  We’re all busy, but God still has a plan for your life.  The problem is His plan may not be your plan.  If you want God to move in your life; if you want God to respond in your life, you might try responding to what God is calling you to do.  You might try doing what God is laying on your heart in the church that you’re at.

 God has a plan for you and that plan begins in the church where God placed you.  There’s a part that you have to play in the plan of God.  He doesn’t do it all for you.  You have to work to see God’s plan happen in your life.  You have to put energy into doing what you’ve been called to, in the place God called you to do it.  It’s worth it…God’s plan includes blessing you.

The Power of Decision

 A number of years ago there was a sports show on television called “The Wide World of Sports.”  The show began with a montage of sports action with a voice over that said these words:  “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”  The video footage showing during the words, “the agony of defeat,” was of a ski jumper by the name of Vinko Bogotaj, who crashes while racing toward the bottom of the jump.  In the crash he falls off the side of the jump structure.  It’s a brutal crash.  He could have been killed.

Few people know, though, that Bogotaj intentionally ended the jump before he could fly.  He was jumping at the end of the day and cooling temperatures had caused the snow to become icy. He realized that he was gaining too mush speed; that he would land beyond the landing slope and could potentially be killed.  He was forced to make a decision that, even through it was a great risk, he would have to try to stop himself.

We are often faced with the same kind of decisions, where we have to weigh out what is the greater danger.  When ewe make a decision with great risk we need to put all of our energy in to seeing the decision we make be successful.

I’ve heard Pastor Mitchell, make the statement, “man has a sovereign will (what we call free will), and God will not violate that.”  In other words, he’s saying that we make our own choices.  God doesn’t make decision for us.  He may set up circumstances by which a decision must be made, but ultimately it’s up to us.  We are the ones who decide what we’ll do with those circumstances. 

We make many decisions over the course of our lifetimes.  One of the decisions that we make is whether or not we’ll step into the will of God for our lives.  Will we accept our salvation?  Often this is a simple decision, like the one the skier had to make?  Sin is killing me; quit or not?  Once that decision is made it leads to a much more difficult decision.  What am I willing to do to stay in the will of God?  This is the real decision, because many times what happens to us is that we get saved and we make some changes in our lives.  We step out of the overt sin.  Most Christians aren’t drug addicts any more, but is that all the will of God entails? 

There are decisions that we make that are less clear and more uncertain.  If we have a sovereign will and God will not violate that then, ultimately being in the will of God comes down to a decision that we make.  Today, I wan to post on the power of decision, from this passage of scripture:

Esther 4:6-17 (NKJV)
^4:6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king's gate. ⁷ And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries to destroy the Jews. ⁸ He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people. ⁹ So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: ¹¹ "All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days." ¹² So they told Mordecai Esther's words. ¹³ And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" ¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!" ¹⁷ So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

The Circumstances of Decision

We are all familiar with this portion of scripture,  the Jews are living under the king of Persia, who has given power to a man who despises them, and has determined to have them killed.  He has taken a decree to the king that calls for the annihilation of the Jews, and that order has been granted and has gone out.  This is in place; it’s going to happen.  On a certain day the people will rise up and kill all the Jews. 

So, this is a time of desperation.  There is a great need for deliverance.  If you think about it for a moment, it’s also a picture of us in the bondage of sin.  There is impending death:  the wages of sin is death.  There is the jealous and angry hater of the Jews:  Satan despises us, too.  There is a sense of desperation that the people will survive.

How many of you reading this were desperate at the moment when you made the decision to get saved?  Many of us had come to the end of our rope and there was nowhere else to go.  Maybe you were in prison.  Maybe you were facing death.  Many of  you had destroyed your life in another way.  There was a desperate quality to our lives.  Change or die.  So we came to a place where decision became necessary.  The circumstances were against us, we had come to the place of decision, like Vinko Bogotaj,  A decision had to be made, “Do I continue down the jump or do I throw myself off the ramp?”

In our text there is certain annihilation of the Jews by their enemies. There is something that can be done to bring deliverance, but that thing is done at great risk.  The time for a decision has come. 

Think of wjhat must have gone through Bogotaj’s mind as he hurtled down the ramp.  He knew by the speed that he was traveling that he was in grave danger if he continued.  But there must also be the question is his mind, “What will happen if I throw myself down on the ramp?”  he would no longer be in control and a fall from the ramp at high speed was also very risky.  This is a crisis point requiring a decision.  A decision must be made. 

Esther is also weighing out the risks in the decision she has to make.   This is a crisis decision.  Do I allow the Jews to be annihilated?  Do I step in and risk the king’s wrath?  She made her decision, she struggled through the process and said, “Okay, I’m in the best position to influence the king, and I understand the risk of going to him, and she made her choice.

William James, the philosopher once said, “When you have to make a choice and don’t do it, that is a choice, in itself.

God has a will; there is a will of God and we know what that is. It is the salvation and deliverance of all of mankind.

2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)
^3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

We’re the ones who have to decide.  God can’t force us to love Him and repent, but many times what He does is lay out the consequences and let’s us make the decision.

Deuteronomy 30:14-19 (NKJV)
^30:14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. ¹⁵ "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, ¹⁶ in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

This is a call to a decision to be in the will of God.  God doesn’t force it on us; He lays out the consequences and says, “Now, what are you going to do with it?”  He will not violate our will.  He didn’t with Adam, He just laid out the consequences of violating the command, “You will surely die.”  He didn’t violate Esther’s will, either.  Mordecai just told her what would happen if she didn’t intervene on the Jew’ behalf.

Esther 4:13-14 (NKJV)
^4:13 And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

Mordecai lays out the consequences, “You and your father’s house will perish,” and he calls her to a decision.  ‘Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”  “You decide, Esther, whether or not you will be used by God.  I won’t interfere with your decision.”  God didn’t interfere with their will and He won’t with our either.  We have a sovereign will.  So then it has to be that God moves through the decisions of men.  The Jews are delivered through Esther’s decision to risk it all. 

That’s why when I pray for people I pray that people will make decisions that will bring them deeper into the will of God.  I pray that they make decisions that bring about deliverance; that bring about a desire to obey God; that bring about a stronger relationship with God.  These types of decisions are decisions that can bring about a move of God. 

Do you want God to move in your circumstances?  If you do, then you have to make a decision that allows God to move.  I’m going to walk away from this temptation; that’s a deliverance decision that God can move in.  I’m going to do those things that will bring me closer to God.  God can move in that, but when you make decisions to distance yourself from the people of God or the Word of God you stifle God’s ability to move in your life.

Look at Psalm 119:106

Psalms 119:106 (NKJV)
^119:106 I have sworn and confirmed That I will keep Your righteous judgments.

What’s the psalmist doing here?  He’s proclaiming a decision that he has made to love out the will of God.  He’s made a decision that gives God room to move in his life.  It’s the same with us.  I preach what God gives me to to preach and it’s up to you to decide what you will do with it.  You can make a decision to ignore what’s preached or you can latch onto it and apply it to your life.  Which decision is a decision that allows God to move?

There is a Commitment to Decision

President Andrew Jackson said, “Take time to ponder but when the time comes for action stop thinking and go!”

This is where the rubber meets the road.  Once you decide to be used by God you have to follow through.  That’s usually the hardest part.

Esther 4:16 (NKJV)
^4:16 "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

I’m sure esther examined the choices available to her.  She understood that the king could have her killed for coming when she wasn’t called to come before him.  She knew the risk of the decision but she allowed it to play out.  “If I perish, I perish.”

This was life and death.  There were real consequences to this decision and she was going   to have to trust God.  Have you ever had to face life and death surgery?  When I was a baby I had a heart condition thatwas life threatening.  The only resolution for this problem was surgery, but the problem was that this surgery had never been performed on a six-month old child.  If I didn’t have the surgery the probability was that I would die.  If I did have the surgery the chances are that I wouldn’t survive the surgery.  So, if I didn’t have surgery I would likely die.  If I did have the surgery I could die, but not definitely die.  How would you like to make that decision?

There is a huge commitment inherent in that decision.  The doctors had to be committed to doing their very best to create the best possible outcome.  My parents had to be committed to accept the outcome whatever it might be, but ultimately there was nothing they could do.  It was in the doctors’ hands.  They had to trust them.

In Esther’s case, she was going to die if she didn’t talk to the king, but there wass also the possibility that she could die if she did.  Once she made up her mind it was all or nothing.  This kind of decision required a commitment to follow through.  She had to trust God.  Our decision to follow Christ must be an all out commitment to follow him:  All or nothing.

Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
^7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' ²³ And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

Thius is spoken to the church, isn’t it?  We have all done these things in His name.  These are the signs that follow them that believe.  Something has happened, though, these that have the signs that follow them that believe have been turned away at the door.  Entering in requires a commitment to the will of God.  It’s not a halfway thing; it’s all or nothing. 

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “One’s philiosophy is not best expressed in words.  It is expressed in the choices one makes.  In the long run we shape our lives and we shape ourselves.  The process never ends until we die.  The choices we make our ultimatly our responsibility.”

In other words, what we believe is expressed in our actions, in our decisions and in the way we live out those decisions.  In a pioneer church setting we often ask people, “Will you come to church, Sunday morning?”  “Will you be here, tonight?”  “Will you be at Bible Study on Wednesday?”  People often answer, “I’ll try.”  Do you know what “I’ll try” means?  It means no!  Successful people are not successful because they try.  They’re successful because they do whatever is necessary to make success happen.

People who enter into Heaven enter in because they lived out their decision to be in the will of God.  Remember the verse from Psalms?

Psalms 119:106 (NKJV)
^119:106 I have sworn and confirmed That I will keep Your righteous judgments.

I’m not sure who the psalmist was, but we will see him in Heaven; he is committed to entering in.

What about you?  What do your actions speak about your commitment to serve God?  Are you serving God or are you trying?  Do you have both feet planted in the will of God or are you straddling the line?  A halfway commitment is no commitment at all.

Making the Decision Count

Someone once said, “The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to build and which bridge to burn.”

This quote speaks of wisdom.  It takes wisdom to weigh out certain circumstances ans all the ramifications of the decision at hand, and then make the wisest choice.  Moses found himself at this very place:

Hebrews 11:24-28 (NKJV)
^11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

This is a pretty major decision that Moses made, right here.  He was the adopted grandson of Pharaoh.  He was in line to be king, and yet he turned away from the passing pleasures of sin and joined himself to the people of God.   This was an all or nothing decision on his part.

It required commitment, but according to the scripture there was something else; it required priority.  He gave priority to the things of God.  Esther did, as well, she gave priority to the people of God; to God’s will for them and for herself.

Esther 4:16 (NKJV)
^4:16 "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

As she’s preparing herself to live out this decision, she gives priority to fasting and prayer.  I believe this is what gives her the faith to take the risk to go in before the king.  She’s able to trust God to deliver her and the Jews.

The more priority that we give to the things of God in our lives the stronger our faith will become.   We’ll be more likely to make a decision that God can move through.  Sometimes we feel so far away from God.  We feel like God isn’t moving in our circumstances, but we haven’t given him any priority or way in our lives.  We haven’t made any decision that allow Him to move.

We need to be like Esther and go all the way, no matter how it looks; no matter the risk.  How you prioritize your life will speak to what God can do in you.   All it really comes down to is a decision like Esther’s or Moses’.  You resolve within yourself what you want from God.  How much of God do you want in your life?  How much do you need God to move there?  Then you commit your time, your resources and yourself to that decision: All out Petal to the medal.  This is what I need and I’m going all the way to see it happen.  Make the things of God a priority in your life and you have opened up a door for God to move in your life.  You want to preach?  Make it happen.  You want ministry?  You know what it takes to have it.  You need God to move?  Give Him the ability to do it.  Don’t try – Just do it!

Guarding the Fruit

Editor's Note:  The theme for our church this year is that this is "2015 is the Year of Fruitfulness."  We have a desire to see the church built in Taoyuan City and spreading to the rest of Taiwan.  This sermon was preached on a way to impart the vision to bear fruit, that will be lasting and remain until Christ's return.  I fruit is borne then it is important that we guard the fruit so that it cannot be stolen or slip away.

I used to work with a woman that had a saying when you asked in she was busy.  She would say, “I’m busier than a one-eyed fox watching two hen-houses.”  She had a lot of other colorful phrases but I wouldn't use most of them.  What she was saying is that it was difficult to do a good job at any one thing because there were so many other things to do. 

We all have busy lives, don’t we?  We’re all busier than one-eyed foxes, but there are some things we need to focus on.  Jesus has given us a task.  He has placed a burden on us, and that is that we’re to reach our generation.

John 15:15-16 (NKJV)^15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

It is appointed to us that we should bear fruit and that our fruit should remain.  In order for fruit our fruit to remain we need to protect it.  Today, I want to write about protecting the fruit that we have been.

1 Kings 20:38-40 (NKJV)^20:38 Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road, and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹ Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and there, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, 'Guard this man; if by any means he is missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.' ⁴⁰ While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone." Then the king of Israel said to him, "So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it."

Guard this Man

The context of this is that the King of Syria threatened Israel, and God delivered them over into israel’s hands.  God wanted the King of Syria dead, but Ahab the king of Israel let him go.  He saw an opportunity to make some money, so basically he refused to do what God wanted.  He was disobedient and this prophet let him know what God said.

I think there’s a lesson for us in this warning.  We are called, (The Bible says appointed) to bear fruit and that the fruit we bear should remain.  If that’s the case then we are called to guard the fruit.  To guard the man we are given to guard; to not let the fruit “slip away.”

Let’s look for a moment at the excuse that’s given for the loss of the prisoner, “While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.”  The guard got too busy “here and there” to pay attention to what he was given to do.  Here and there seems to imply that he was busy with many things.  He was jut going about daily life and the man slips away – he’s just gone.  The result is that the guard has to pay with his life for losing the prisoner.

There is a task that is appointed to us:  To bear fruit and that our fruit should remain.  So we have the same task as the guard; to keep the fruit that was given to us.  That fruit should not be allowed to slip away, and that’s the challenge isn't it?  How do we keep people serving God?  How do we inspire people to remain in the will of God?  We are often distracted by our busyness. 

The guard in the text tells the king I was busy here and there, “I had things to do; things that needed my concentration; things that were no doubt important, but that’s why he was lost.  It wasn't me it was all that I had to do that allowed him to slip away.”

That’s what he’s saying, “I had things to do so I couldn't pay enough attention to the man and he escaped while I was busy with all those things.  It’s not my fault…it was my busyness.”  The king called it a decision.

That’s interesting isn't it?  The man decided that the things he was busy with were more important than guarding the man.  You’d think that with his life on the line, making sure the prisoner didn't escape would be his highest priority…but the prisoner was ignored and he got away.  Has that ever happened to you?

Have you ever focused on some trivial task that you ere doing and lost track of the time?  Have you ever been so intent on doing one task that you forgot to do something that was more important?  We've all done that.

The reality of it is that you've made a choice.  You have given priority to the lesser thing.  We often allow the things we’re busy with get in the way of the larger thing, which is obedience to God.  Look at this moment in the lives of Martha and Mary.  They’re friends of Jesus:

Luke 10:38-42 (NKJV)^10:38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." ⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

Martha is busy, she’s trying to serve all of these people who've come to her home.  Her sister Mary has chosen to sit and listen at Jesus’ feet..  Martha was distracted with too much serving.  She was too busy to hear from Jesus.  She was too busy for the word of God.  She was preoccupied with the lesser task.

We are often like this.  I’m too busy for Bible Study.  I have too many other things to do that I can’t go on outreach.  I’m too busy here and there.  I don’t have time to help anyone who is struggling with staying saved.  God should keep them.  Well, He’s given us that job – To guard the fruit.

I think that sometimes we get distracted with all of our church tasks and lose sight of the talks of keeping the fruit.   We’re too busy for new relationships.  One of the concerns in our church is, whether or not people have relationships with people in the church, outside of the church.  Do they spend time with others in the church?  Do they talk to each other?  Do they pray for each other?  Do they have any concern for others in the church and their salvation, or are they too busy here and there?

Am I saying you should put your life on hold to only church things?  Of course not, we all have to work and raise kids, and do what we have to do.  But I believe there’s a balance to do the will of God.  For years, I balanced a full-time job; my family and my church activities, so I know it can all be balanced.

Some people say they’re just too busy, but they have time for a lot of other things.  When it comes to new people coming into the church, you don’t have to invite them to come and live with you, but how about a friendly lunch after church, or a phone call once in a while.  Make them feel cared about.  Make a friend.  Find out what you have in common and invite them to do that, that’s how you made the friends you have now.

The best friends that I have in life started out just like that; someone reached out to me when I first came to church.  Helping people to lock into church is vital for their spiritual well-being.  It’s the way we guard the fruit – not letting it slip away.

It’s Part of Being of One Accord

Look with me again at John 15:16:

John 15:16 (NKJV)^15:16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

That appointment to bear fruit is attached to a promise: That whatever you ask in my name, He may give you.  Another translation says it like this, “In order that whatever you might ask the father in my name, he may give you.” (Weust Expanded New Testament).  When you say “in order” it means that one thing follows the other.  It’s like saying “If you will bear fruit and that fruit remains, then whatever you may ask of the Father he will give it to you.” 

The context of this statement is telling the disciples, “I no longer call you servants but friends, if you do what I command.”  A friend understands what the master is doing.  With a servant, that’s not necessarily true:  he servant does things because the master ordered them to do it. A friend, on the other hand, does what he does because he’s in agreement.  Your friends don’t do what you tell them to do, just because you told them to, they do what they agree with.  So this context tells us that the disciples are in agreement with Jesus.  When they follow His orders they are of one accord.  They have the same purpose.  They have the same priorities.

What if we’re not in agreement?  What if we’re not of one accord?  Will the people we reach be fruit that remains?  I think if we’re not of one accord then there will be hesitation to make them feel welcome.  People will resist reaching out to others.  People will resist following up on new believers.  Follow-up is essential to having fruit that remains.  They come to church and they expect the pastor to be friendly.  It’s part of his job description – be friendly.  It’s the congregation’s response they’re looking for.  They wan to know what the people in the congregation are like.  Fruit that remains indicates that we are in one accord.

John 17:11 (NKJV)^17:11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.

That they may be one – in thought and purpose

As we are one – in thought and purpose:

That they will remain united in thought and action as the ones that came before them were united, so that they will all be of one accord.

Now look at this prayer of Jesus:

John 17:20-21 (NKJV)^17:20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Jesus is praying that we as believers will be of one accord so that the world will know that this real:  That this is ordained of God.  I we are all of a different mindset then there’s no real difference between us and the world.

This is often my prayer.  I sometimes wonder why there are things that are visible in people’s lives in our congregation that I wouldn't want in my life.  Why do I feel so strongly about certain spiritual principles and people in the congregation don’t.  If we’re not of one accord it results in confusion for the newcomers, and in confusion that fruit cannot remain.

How to Bear Fruit and Have it Remain

I believe that there are several things that we as a congregation can do to see out church grow.  How many people realize that church growth is more dependent on the congregation than the pastor?  People don’t come to church because the pastor is great.  They come because of the congregation.  They come because of relationships they have or want to have with people in the church. We need to focus on the people we've been given.  We need to include them in our lives, and show them they’re accepted.  There’s a need for us all to come to be of one accord, because we’re not all going in the same direction.  We don’t all participate in the strategy of the church to reach souls.  There is a need for people in the congregation to share in the vision of the church to reach the lost.  People should begin to rise up and take on for themselves a personal vision to reach other people that works together with the church’s vision.

We can’t be afraid to reach out to people who may not be the “type” of people we’re comfortable with.  Those that seem to be the least lovable are often those who most need to be loved.

We can’t be afraid to witness or to share our testimony with people.  We don’t always know what they struggle with in life and your struggle may be the same type of thing they with which they struggle.  The thing that most touched me and brought me to the will of God was a drama about Mexican gangsters, when I had never had any experience at all with them.  The drama touched on an area of struggle in my life, with which other people, regardless of culture or ethnicity, may struggle.

Finally, it is important that we do not neglect those that do come.  Reach out to them.  Make friends with them.  Help them to feel like they are a part of something.  Show them that we care about them, so that they will desire to remain.  This is how we guard the fruit and don’t allow it to slip away.